Britain is seeing a rise in strep A infections, and health authorities have warned parents to be on the look out for symptoms in their children, after the deaths of seven youngsters, and a surge of scarlet fever cases resulting from the infection.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has issued a rare alert after the rise in strep A cases, telling parents to seek medical help immediately if they detected symptoms in their children, reports The Guardian.
Although most cases can be treated with antibiotics, in rare instances, strep A can become a serious illness. Six children in England and one in Wales have already lost their lives.
Officials said there was no evidence of a new strain was circulating and that the rise in cases was probably linked to high amounts of circulating bacteria and increased social mixing.
Strep A can cause various health issues, including the skin infection impetigo, strep throat and scarlet fever.
While most infections are relatively mild, the bacteria can also cause a life-threatening illness called invasive group A streptococcal (iGAS) disease.
The UKHSA said there had also been a significant rise in scarlet fever cases recently, with 851 cases reported from 14 to 20 November, compared with an average of 186 for the same period in previous years.
There have also been 2.3 cases of iGAS per 100 000 children aged one to four in England this year, compared with an average of 0.5 in the pre-pandemic seasons from 2017 to 2019: 1.1 cases per 100 000 children aged five to nine, compared with the pre-pandemic average of 0.3.
A lack of mixing as a result of the pandemic could be behind a drop in immunity to infections such as strep A, said Dr Simon Clarke, a microbiologist at the University of Reading.
“I’m unaware of any factor linking these reported deaths, so it’s impossible to link them, but I do expect there to be further cases over the coming weeks and months.
“We are seeing a lot of flu at the moment, and lack of mixing in kids may have caused a drop in population-wide, which could increase transmission, particularly in school-age children.”
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