Great Britain: Rapid increase in child deaths from type A strep
The number of children who have died from strep A in the UK since September has risen to 15. This afternoon the Health Protection Agency (HSA) said 13 children had died in England, one in Wales and one in Northern Ireland. .
Streptococcus A’ is an infection that usually has mild complications in the human body and is treated with antibiotics given for 24 hours. As the doctors point out, its valid diagnosis is very important for the health of the patients. It is easily transmitted when someone comes into close contact with the sick person, with the droplets of their cough or sneeze.
In some cases, usually few, Streptococcus A’ causes serious illness as the bacterium enters the blood vessels and causes a serious infection that can lead to death.
The most common disease caused by Streptococcus A’ is scarlet fever, which has flu-like symptoms. Among them, within 12 to 48 hours a rash appears that starts on the chest and stomach and then. Small bumps also appear on the tongue, which becomes redder than usual and is therefore called “strawberry tongue”.
As of last week, there were 901 cases of scarlet fever in the UK. The number that is already ten times higher than the same period in 2021. That is why health authorities are talking about an outbreak of the virus and have sounded the alarm calling on parents and teachers to be vigilant and monitor children for symptoms such as: difficulty or even pauses in breathing, sore throat and high fever, rashes on the abdomen, tongue or lips, sudden and unexplained weight loss.
Scientists attribute the outbreak of strep mainly to the quarantines caused by the pandemic. As they point out, the pandemic on the one hand has weakened the immune system of some sensitive organisms and on the other hand has helped spread common viruses such as the flu.
RES-EMP