Six children have died with an invasive condition caused by Strep A – including five under 10-year-olds in England – the UK Health Security Agency has said.
A primary school girl from Wales has also died. There has been no confirmation of any deaths in Scotland or Northern Ireland.
Usually Strep A infections are mild but in a small number of cases patients can become seriously ill with an invasive infection.
UKHSA is investigating the cases.
Whilst still uncommon, there has been an increase in invasive Group A strep cases this year, particularly in children under 10.
Infections caused by Group A strep bacteria are usually mild with symptoms like sore throat or skin infections.
The bug can also cause scarlet fever which can in the majority of cases be treated with antibiotics.
In a very small number of cases Group A strep infection can get deeper into the body – for example into the lungs and bloodstream, causing an illness known as invasive group A strep. This can be much harder to treat.
UKHSA figures suggest there were:
- 2.3 cases per 100,000 children aged 1-4 compared to an average of 0.5 in 2017 to 2019.
- 1.1 cases per 100,000 children aged 5-9 compared to the pre-pandemic average of 0.3 at the same time of the year.
During the last high season for Group A Strep infection in 2017/18, there were four deaths in children under 10, compared to five this year in the same time period.
Source: BBC
