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.

So when Americans talk about strep throat is that not tonsillitis as I always thought?
Or is it the bacterial type of tonsillitis that you can have antibiotics for, then there's also viral tonsillitis?
Is strep a/scarlet fever the same or is the latter caused by the former? Read the full thread and I'm still confused!

More kids than usual are probably dying /becoming very unwell from it because no-one is able to actually see a doctor, they're all still in hiding. Deserters.

This is really scaring me. Medically vulnerable child who's just started nursery. We had an email about an 'exposure' to scarlet fever a few weeks ago but nothing came of it and it didn't say anything about antibiotics as a precaution so presumably it wasn't too significant of an exposure.

I agree with the mum above saying a clear plan would be helpful.

DS had scarlet fever last week, as did many of the other children in his class. He had a rash and a bit of a sore throat but other than that was completely fine. Playing and shouting and running about as normal. Most of the other parents said their children were similar, so for a lot of children it will be very mild. The doctor gave him antibiotics and he took them but complained profusely about it.

I had scarlet fever as a child in the 1970s. It is a dreadful and very dangerous illness. I was close to death during the illness and it left me with various complications for life. Apparently the GP sat in my bedroom for the whole night trying to keep my fever down - I can't imagine that happening now! I thought it had become less severe over the years as it seem to go through schools without much issue when my DCs were small. Manty years ago it used to be a notifiable disease with quarantine restricitons etc.

I think my son had scarlet fever a few years ago, he was around 4. The doctor called it 'strep' but he had the stawberry tongue and a rash over his body which felt like sandpaper. He felt pretty ill but got better with antibiotics. I told the school and they sent a letter to parents but I don't know whether any other children ever caught it.

We’ve had scarlet fever several times in our house. There have been quite a few local outbreaks over the past 5 or 6 years. It’s a horrible illness and it can have very severe complications (obviously) but there’s really no need to panic.

We’ve always had antibiotics prescribed immediately and it generally clears up quickly once you start the course.

Remember that for every awful, tragic death, there will be thousands of kids recovering without any issue - you just don’t read about those ones.

By the way someone upthread mentioned strep throat - that IS Strep A bacteria (same as scarlet fever). www.webmd.com/oral-health/understanding-strep-throat-basics

Strep throat is strep A.

Strep tests are very much the thing done when anyone has a very sore throat. I was shocked when I moved here to find that not only are such tests not standard, but strep itself is very much not even a concern among the general population. I just put it down to over the medicalisation and treatment of All things American VS the NHS which...well, I won't go there.

When DD had Scarlet fever, the doctor hadnt seen it in years. Had to get another to confirm. We think she caught it on a plane/in the airport as there was no other known cases in the area. Was fine after ABs. As was DD2 a week later.

From what I remember scarlet fever is a notable disease so the GPshave to tell the local authorities. Not sure what they do with the info tho.

www.nhs.uk/conditions/scarlet-fever/

There is always strep A invasive infections and Scarlett fever. As a noticeable disease it is tracked by PHE and alerts issues to doctors if there is a sharp rise.

Like lots of other illnesses it was suppressed by the Covid measures. Lasts year was also slightly lower I think.

I have health anxiety around my DC so completely understand the worry, but this isnt at the moment something to be particularly concerned about if you haven’t been previously. It has always been here and posed a risk. In a way you are now more prepared as have been alerted to the symptoms. Invasive strep is still relatively rare.

Good for you. All parents should make sure that their children are nutritionally well looked after. Unfortunately it doesn't make much difference if there's a potentially lethal infection going round.

Same. Unfortunately they can still catch bacterial infection infections.

@Novemberhater

"lethal infection." Use of language can be very triggering.

Its a disease we have always had in low numbers High numbers Pre 1970s.

Know the signs and your children Will very very likely be fine.

Agreed. All infections can be lethal. I nearly died of mastitis which led to sepsis. If caught and treated, the very vast majority will be absolutely fine.

Is this outbreak not bigger than previous years though? I certainly don't remember hearing of it resulting in the deaths of three children in a fortnight before.

And sorry if I seem to be scare mongering or using triggering language, I don't mean to, I'm just scared.

As my uncle died of Scarlet Fever at 14 I think I'm justified in using the term lethal. Most children get it mildly. It used to be called Scarletina, but the full blown SF is not only a dangerous infection, but can cause rheumatic fever which permanently damages the heart valves. My ex, my DD's DF died of it 12 years ago.

@Beebz you are right that COVID likely has something to do with it, COVID attacks your immunity and therefore is making us more susceptible to other illnesses, and more prone to severe illness.

The best you can do is keep your child safe from repeated infections. Demand that your school install Corsi-Rosenthal boxes or similar HEPA filters. Avoid crowded indoor places and favour outdoor time even if this isn't foolproof.

This is the best summary I've seen, in an ideal world it would be all over the news. jessicawildfire.substack.com/p/you-may-be-early-but-youre-not-wrong?r=jp7y&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

The media are hot on medical Stories right now as the nhs is struggling and they want to cover this.

The death of a child is very headline inducing and obviously terrifying for the readers with younger children.

Cases are rising but were rising Pre pandemic as well so it's not all down to covid but perhaps lockdown has made some immunity a bit behind for some kids.

Get a good quality probiotic and vitamin and teach your kids good hand hygiene.

It's hard not to worry but headlines are there for a reason.

I think the strepp bacteria lives on our skin, or up our noses and something triggers it to become a troublesome infection.

My 4 year old had this a couple of months ago. He had rash on his body like scarlet fever but temp was not high enough, a sore throat, was chesty (but not snotty) and had a rash on his face that looked similar to foot and mouth/impetigo. GP phoned the hospital as she wasn’t happy with his heart rate or oxygen saturation and we were packed off to the children’s ward. They were happy to let us go by the end of the day with strict orders to go straight back if he got worse. They took a throat swab and we got a call Friday evening (so 2 days later) asking one of us to go back and pick up some antibiotics from the ward as the swab came back saying strep a.

I got a really bad sore throat from it as well, but thankfully work from home, and boss was understanding with toddler being home as well. Guess he thought that was better than me having to take sick or unpaid dependency leave I guess!

It feels like we're going back to Victorian times.