At least six children have died of strep A infection since September, prompting the UK Health Safety Agency (UKHSA) to issue a rare alert on Friday night. The prime minister’s official spokesman said: “We are seeing a higher number of group A strep cases this year than usual. Bacteria, we know, cause a mild infection that is easily treated with antibiotics and, in rare cases, can enter the bloodstream and cause serious illness. “It’s still uncommon, but it’s important for parents to be on the lookout for symptoms. But the NHS is well prepared to deal with situations like this by working with the UK’s Health Security Agency.” He said any concerned parents should contact the NHS. The comments came after the UKHSA’s chief medical adviser warned that infection rates were significantly higher than previously seen at this time of year. “First, I think we’re seeing a lot of viral infections going around right now, and these bacterial infections can come as an addition. “Secondly, we are back to normal social mixing, and the disease patterns we’ve seen in recent months are out of sync with normal seasons, as people mix into the normal and move around and spread infections,” said Dr. Susan Hopkins told BBC Radio 4’s Today program on Monday. “We must also recognize that the measures we have taken over the last two years to reduce the circulation of Covid will also reduce the other infections that are circulating. And so that means that as things get back to normal, these traditional infections that we’ve seen for many years are circulating at extraordinary levels.” Asked if this was due to lower than normal immunity levels caused by the Covid measures, she said: “That is one of the possible areas we are investigating. We expect that a certain number of children will have these infections each year and therefore have a level of immunity. So we’re seeing more now than we’ve seen in the last couple of years, where there were very, very low infection rates.” A worried father told the same program his daughter was fighting for her life. Dean Burns, whose daughter Camilla Rose is on a ventilator at Liverpool’s Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, said: “It’s very bad, it’s devastating for us as a family.” Camila, four, went from dancing with her friends on Friday night to being “a bit under the weather on Saturday” and requiring urgent care until Monday. Strep A can cause a number of health problems, including waxy skin infection, strep throat and scarlet fever. The vast majority of infections are relatively mild, but the bacteria can also cause a life-threatening disease called invasive group A streptococcus disease (iGAS). Downing Street said she could “fully understand” that parents are concerned about the rise in strep A cases, but stressed that the NHS is “well prepared” for such situations. Hopkins told Today that parents should be on the lookout for a sore throat and fever that won’t go away with regular pain treatments. “Escargot is characterized by a rash and [it] they are not like normal viral rashes. It feels like sandpaper on the skin like that [if] If the child’s skin looks like rough sandpaper and not just a normal pink on the skin, then this is a concern and it could be scarlet fever. “The other thing you have to do is look at their language. And again, in oscar, we describe what’s called strawberry tongue, where there’s a little white coating on it and it looks like a strawberry is bright red. This is a warning sign that parents should watch out for.” He added that unusual sleepiness, dehydration and not needing the toilet as much as usual were also particularly worrying symptoms.
