Worried about Strep A outbreak

[Beebz]

It has now been reported that a second primary aged child has now tragically died from Strep A (iGAS). This is so shocking and how completely devastating for their families, I literally cannot even imagine the hell they are going through.

Is this something new or does this happen to children in this country every year? I don't remember hearing anything like this about strep/scarlet fever in the news before? How likely is it for primary aged children to become this ill from it? Is there anything we can do to protect our DC's from contracting it? This seems incredibly serious.

I'd only ever heard about Strep A (strep throat) before and it was literally just that, and treated with penicillin, I didn't realise it was the same as scarlet fever which I have heard is rising in numbers.

Yes me to @TitsInAbsentia, my family abroad often refer to 'strep' but until this last two weeks I hadn't heard about it much in this country, and now two children have died. It's just so terrible, and it doesn't appear that there is a vaccine against it?

I'm also wondering this. Is it maybe because antibiotics aren't as effective anymore as they used to be?

I do wonder about anti biotic resistance, but I also worry about the effect that Covid can have on the immune system, regardless of where you stand on the vaccine debate I think all can agree catching it over and over again can't be good for you. I try to keep my DC's as healthy as I can and it's terrifying to think there are things like this you just can't protect them from. Seems to have made them so poorly so quickly too.

Was just reading up on this.

I have two primary school children and sooo many children ill in my youngest class (not necessarily with strep).

Not going to lie, I'm finding it all very scaru.

This used to be a thing. My mum had strep throat as a young teen which then led to rheumatic fever. She spent the best part of a year in hospital and has been left with damaged heart valves. Mum is now 70 so obviously she is doing ok. I don’t know how correct this is but my mum said there were a lot of kids with strep and rheumatic fever in the 50s and 60s and the consensus was it was post viral from earlier flu epidemics. Kids were susceptible because they had not built immunity to these outbreaks where older generations some protection. My dad also had scarlet fever. I thought all these diseases had died out. I don’t remember anyone I knew in the 1970s or 80s getting strep or scarlet fever.

Scarlet fever used to kill loads of children. Strep A can be fatal. Neither of these facts are brand new information.

All three of my children have had scarlet fever in the past 3 years, all 3 recovered with antibiotics. My middle daughter’s class had 16 children out with it. It is a nasty illness.

A few years back my dd somehow got strep A in her lung, it was awful and caused all sorts of problems including sepsis.

One of the scariest times of my entire life, I very nearly lost her. She was in hospital for weeks and was only fully signed off hospital over a year later due to the organ damage from the sepsis.

Its absolutely terrifying.

Shes now fighting fit and has no lasting damage thankfully.

I'm really worried about this too. My youngest daughter had chicken pox a couple of weeks ago and I've read that scarlet fever can be more severe in children that have recently had them .

Strep throat and scarlet fever are caused by the same group A streptococcal bacteria, but they are not the same sickness.

Strep throat is a throat infection with group A strep
Scarlet fever is a blood infection with group A strep- attacks the organs, can make you blind, do permanent heart damage and in some cases kill you.

An untreated strep throat can develop onto scarlet fever. Much like an upper respiratory infection can develop onto bronchitis and then onto pneumonia.

There are various streptococcal strains within group A and some are nastier than others. I have had strep throat numerous times and also scarlet fever.

Thanks for that @Onnabugeisha that's really informative. Is there anything at all we can do as a precaution other than watch for signs of illness? Feeling a bit powerless. DD was so sick with a viral infection two years ago they prepared us it might be leukaemia and I'm so terrified of things like this now.

What are the signs?
A rash? Particular kind of sore throat?

Fever?

I had Scarlet Fever in the 70s and I think DS had it when he was about 7 but I only realised what he'd had when he was recovering ( his skin peeled off his hands and feet) I still feel bad about not taking him to the doctor for ABs but I'm was a bit casual about illness with my kids as my Dad is a retired GP who would always check them out if I was worried and that have me a false sense of security, although I knew about meningitis symptoms I didn't have a clue about Scarlet Fever symptoms and risks, they just went publicised.

DD1 had scarlet fever when she was about 4, maybe 6 years ago? It was doing the rounds then too. Symptoms are a fever, sore throat, a tongue that looks like a strawberry and a scarlet red rash on the body along with very red flushed cheeks.

One thing though - DD1 had it, took antibiotics, recovered fine. A week later... I got it. And then a week after that DH did. We were both absolutely knocked for six, it's quite horrible. It took us an embarrassing amount of time to work out that we'd ended up with it as well!

It is very scary.

I'd not really heard of strep A before either, but a few weeks ago, my teenaged niece had a strep A infection in the tissue of her knee.

Had had a previous sore throat (but quite minor as had whole family), then sudden high fever and swollen knee. Out of hours sent her straight to A&E and she was operated on the next day. IV antibiotics for two weeks and now oral. Still can't walk without crutches.

Had had no idea a sore throat could end up like that. 😯

DS1 had scarlet fever about 6 years ago. 2 weeks later DS2 had it, and then 2 weeks after that DS1 had it again. The first GP I saw when DS1 had it the second time said it was a post-viral rash and that children can’t get scarlet fever twice. When it got worse I saw a different GP, who said that that was total nonsense, but that lots of doctors had little experience with scarlet fever. She told me it’s always floating in the background.

A few months later DS1 had Henoch-Schonlein purpura . He had a really rough run of luck for a while.

Placemarking

It’s not new unfortunately, just not widespread enough to be commonly thought about. We lost a family member to it at 5 years old, was such a shock just seemed like any other bug small children pick up at school. Will never get over the suddenness and unfairness of it

My son recently had tonsillitis- was swabbed as he’s allergic to a couple of antibiotics. Swab came back as strep a but took a couple of different antibiotics to get on top of it. Symptoms I wasn’t expecting were VERY bloodshot eyes and bleeding gums. High fever too. Got a blood test within a day to check he’d no blood infection. Surgery were very good but he was unwell for a few weeks.

If strep is bacterial how does it spread so much… I thought it was just viruses that could spread in this way, how catchy is it? 😮

Also scarlet fever … do we not get vaccinated for this as a child … or am I thinking of something else.

Never heard of strep before tbh … why is there an outbreak now I wonder? 🤔

So, a sore throat with persistent fever is an initial sign that it could be strep. It feels like broken glass when you swallow. Often there is a headache & lethargy too. That’s when I’d insist on a throat culture and antibiotics while waiting for results. GPs don’t like this, but the results take too long usually a few days and by then strep throat can be well advanced.

Say you get fobbed off by the GP, if the sore throat and fever become such that you cannot swallow all your saliva and you’re drooling on yourself (plus the above), that’s when I’d go to A&E because that’s a clear symptom of advanced strep throat.

Different strains move quicker than others, so I go by the severity of my symptoms not the days it’s been going on for.

There’s no vaccination for scarlet fever, it’s bacterial.

@Mentallyillfrienhomless the scarlet fever rash is distinctive. It feels rough like sandpaper. But not all GPs are good at spotting it. My DS2 had it at 14 months. Our NHS GP told my DH it was a viral rash. I came home from work, took one look at DS and said that it wasn’t a viral rash. Thankfully because he was out second child I had seen plenty of viral rashes.

A quick search on the internet confirmed that I was right. We paid for a second opinion from a private GP but I didn’t tell them what I suspected. They diagnosed scarlet fever immediately. DS 2 was quite ill with it and they told me that had he not improved when they checked him 24 hours later, they would have had to admit him to hospital. They didn’t charge me for the second appointment so it wasn’t a money making thing. They were genuinely concerned about him.

Wow ! A mum can instantly tell it's A bad rash but not doctor?

Did you let initial doctors know?