Parents urged to be aware of Strep A symptoms after death of six children

Health officials are urging parents to look retired for symptoms of Strep A aft six children died with an invasive signifier of the bacterial infection.

Strep A infections are usually mild, causing unwellness ranging from a sore pharynx to scarlet fever, but tin make into a much superior invasive Group A Strep (iGAS) infection.

Experts accidental determination are much Strep A cases than accustomed this year.

Prof Beate Kampmann said parents should question aesculapian assistance if they were worried.

Health officials confirmed connected Friday that six children had died with iGAS - including 5 nether 10-year-olds successful England and a miss from Wales since September. No deaths person been confirmed successful Scotland oregon Northern Ireland.

The UK Health Security Agency said the past clip determination was an intensive play of Strep A corruption was successful 2017-18, erstwhile determination were 4 deaths successful England successful the equivalent clip frame.

The emergence successful Strep A cases and deaths is astir apt owed to precocious amounts of the bacteria circulating and accrued societal mixing, the UKHSA said.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme connected Saturday, infectious diseases paediatrician Prof Kampmann said determination had been 3 times arsenic overmuch scarlet fever this twelvemonth than was seen pre-pandemic.

Describing the symptoms, she said: "It starts disconnected with a precocious fever, precise sore pharynx and precise reddish tongue, which has this benignant of papillae - yet processing a rash which feels a spot similar sandpaper.

"The rash starts successful the elbows and down the neck. It tends to past peel aft astir 10 days due to the fact that the illness is caused by a toxin that is produced by this bacterium."

Prof Kampmann said if children became truly unwell, oregon if parents were successful doubt, they should question help. She besides said children with a fever should beryllium kept disconnected school.

She continued: "The bully quality is that Group A Strep is very, precise treatable with penicillin."

But she added, "if your kid is deteriorating successful immoderate way, you consciousness that they're not eating, drinking, being rather level and lethargic you request to instrumentality them to the doctors and to get them checked out."

The latest information shows determination were 851 cases of scarlet fever reported successful the week of 14-20 November, compared to an mean of 186 for the preceding years.

Virologist Dr Chris Smith said the wide emergence successful Strep A infections could beryllium owed to a driblet successful immunity pursuing the pandemic.

He told BBC Breakfast: "There's thing astir the vulnerability of the colonisation and peculiarly younger people.

"What has changed is that younger radical person been done 3 years, almost, of comparative isolation from each other.

"They haven't caught the mean infections astatine the mean rates and astatine the mean times that mean children of that benignant of property bracket would person done.

"So, we wonderment whether it is that we are seeing a large rash of cases each astatine once."

UKHSA advises radical to telephone 999 oregon spell to A&E if:

There person been 2.3 cases of the invasive Strep A illness per 100,000 children aged 1 to 4 successful England this year, compared with an mean of 0.5 successful pre-pandemic seasons of 2017-19, the bureau said.

There person besides been 1.1 cases per 100,000 children aged 5 to nine, compared with a pre-pandemic mean implicit the aforesaid play of 0.3.