• After six children died from an invasive form of Strep A, health officials are telling parents to be on the lookout for signs of the infection.
• Strep A infections usually cause mild illnesses like a sore throat or scarlet fever, but they can turn into a more serious infection called invasive Group A Strep (iGAS).
• This year, experts say, there are more people with Strep A than usual.

Strep A infections usually cause mild illnesses like a sore throat or scarlet fever, but they can turn into a more serious infection called invasive Group A Strep (iGAS).

This year, experts say, there are more people with Strep A than usual.

Prof. Beate Kampmann said that parents who are worried should see a doctor.

Health officials said on Friday that six children had died from iGAS since September. Five of them were under 10 years old and lived in England, while the sixth was a girl from Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland have not reported any deaths.

The last time there were a lot of Strep A infections, according to the UK Health Security Agency, was in 2017–18, when four people died in England during the same time period.

An increase in Strep The UKHSA said that the most likely reason for the rise in cases and deaths is that there are more people mixing with each other and there are more bacteria in the air.

Prof. Kampmann, an expert on infectious diseases in children, said that Strep A caused “an infection with no symptoms in most people, then a sore throat, then scarlet fever, and in a very, very small number of people, invasive Group A Strep.”

She said that this year there were three times as many cases of scarlet fever as there were before the pandemic: “It starts with a high fever, a sore throat, and a very red tongue with bumps on it. Eventually, a rash that feels like sandpaper appears.

“The rash starts behind the neck and on the elbows. The disease is caused by a toxin that this bacterium makes. After about ten days, the skin starts to peel.”

Prof. Kampmann said that parents should get help if their child was really sick or if they weren’t sure. She also said that sick kids shouldn’t go to school.

She went on, “The good news is that penicillin works very, very well to treat Group A Strep.”

But she also said, “If you think your child is getting worse, if they aren’t eating or drinking, if they seem flat and tired, you should take them to the doctor and get them checked out.”

In the week of November 14–20, 851 cases of scarlet fever were reported, which is more than the average of 186 cases in the years before.

Dr. Chris Smith, a virologist, said that the drop in immunity after the pandemic could be causing more people to get Strep A infections.

He told: “There’s something about the vulnerability of the population and particularly younger people.

“What has changed is that young people have been mostly separated from each other for almost three years.

“They haven’t gotten sick at the normal rates and times that normal kids their age would have.

So, we wonder if it’s because there are a lot of cases all at once.

This year, there have been 2.3 cases of the invasive Strep A disease per 100,000 children aged one to four in England. This is compared to an average of 0.5 cases per 100,000 children aged one to four in the pre-pandemic seasons of 2017-19.

There have also been 1.1 cases for every 100,000 children ages 5 to 9, compared to an average of 0.3 for the same age group before the outbreak.

People should call 999 or go to A&E, says UKHSA, if:

1. Your child is having trouble breathing.
2. You may hear grunting sounds or see their tummy sucking under their ribs.
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3. When your child breathes, If there are pauses, his or her skin, tongue, or lips are blue,
4. Your child is sleepy and won’t wake up or stay awake.

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