Strep A kills five children in past month
Five children have now died of Strep A as concerns mount over rising deaths from the bacterial infection in children.
A primary-age pupil from St John's School, Green Man Gardens in Ealing died of invasive Group A Strep (iGAS) this week, which comes as health officials confirm to The Telegraph that a young boy from High Wycombe also died of iGAS last month.
Children in Wales and Surrey also died from the bacterial infection in the last week, taking the known tally of Strep A deaths to four.
There is an outbreak of the disease in the Surrey school of the first case with powerful antibiotics given out widely to get it under control.
But the situations in Ealing, High Wycombe and Penarth are thought to be isolated cases and not school-based outbreaks.
Welsh authorities also said it is “unlikely” that the death in Penarth has affected other children, for example.
Dr Yimmy Chow, a health protection consultant at UKHSA London, said: “We are extremely saddened to hear about the death of a child at St John’s Primary School, and our thoughts are with their family, friends and the school community.
“Working with Ealing Council public health team, we have provided precautionary advice to the school community to help prevent further cases and we continue to monitor the situation closely. Group A streptococcal infections usually result in mild illness, and information has been shared with parents and staff about the signs and symptoms.
“These include a sore throat, fever and minor skin infections, and can be treated with a full course of antibiotics from the GP.
“In rare incidences, it can be a severe illness and anyone with high fever, severe muscle aches, pain in one area of the body and unexplained vomiting or diarrhoea should call NHS 111 and seek medical help immediately.”
iGAS is the most severe form of Strep A, the same bacteria which causes tonsillitis, or strep throat, and scarlet fever.
It is easily treated with antibiotics when caught early but the condition can rapidly worsen if the bacteria gets deeper into the body such as the blood.
This can happen due to a weak immune system or via an open sore, with health authorities also saying that children are more vulnerable to a serious Strep A infection immediately if they have recently had chickenpox or the flu.
Chickenpox causes lesions which allows the bacteria to get into the bloodstream and this makes it easier for the invasive form of the disease to occur.
For flu, the viral infection damages the respiratory system and changes the immune system, which makes it easier for the bacteria to spread into deeper areas where it can cause more harm.
Official statistics from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) show that for every 100,000 cases of scarlet fever, 3.1 people will develop iGAS.
However, the rate is around nine per 100,000 for children under one and eight for children aged one to four.
Data show the rate of iGAS is higher this year than it was pre-pandemic for children aged between one and nine-years-old.
There are concerns among experts that lockdown measures enforced during the pandemic stopped the circulation of other seasonal diseases and that now the pathogens are circulating at much higher levels.
For the last two winters, there have been very few seasonal viruses circulating, with social isolation measures enforced as a result of the Covid pandemic ensuring other infectious diseases did not spread.
“I don't think that children are more likely to get [Strep A] than before, I just think that we haven't seen it,” Dr Liz Whittaker, a consultant in paediatric infectious diseases at Imperial College healthcare, told The Telegraph.
An individual’s risk from the bacteria is the same as pre-pandemic, she said, but their exposure is higher now due to it circulating freely for the first time in several years.
Superbug strain of Strep A discovered
Scientists this week announced that a superbug strain of Strep A has been discovered which is undetectable and immune to some antibiotics.
Researchers from Australia found Strep A has evolved a new way to nullify some antibiotics and this type of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is undetectable with current science.
“This new form of resistance is undetectable under conditions routinely used in pathology laboratories, making it very hard for clinicians to prescribe antibiotics that will effectively treat the infection, potentially leading to very poor outcomes and even premature death," said Dr Timothy Barnett, study author and head of the Strep A Pathogenesis and Diagnostics team at The University of Western Australia who discovered the strain.
In Britain, Strep A is most commonly treated with penicillin which is not affected by this new form of resistance. Trimethoprim and Sulfamethoxazole are the antibiotics which are circumnavigated by this new form of AMR.
Health authorities in the UK say they regularly check whether cases of bacterial infections are resistant to any treatments and there is no reason to believe the current outbreak in Surrey is the new superbug strain of Strep A.
