Strep A - are you worried?

[lucylollipop]

Apologies if there are already threads on this. I haven't seen any yet.

News in today that a 9th child has sadly died from strep a. I have primary school age dc and a young baby so I'm worried about them getting sick and also bringing bugs home to the rest of us.

I'm not clued up enough to know if this is comparable to flu deaths in kids? I suppose I just wondered if others are worried? Given the state on the NHS at the moment it isn't a great time to get unwell.

But again why does your childs needs come before other children? Every parent is worried atm and I won’t begrudge anyone who wants to advocate for their child, including yourself but you can’t be annoyed that other parents are rightfully being over cautious and would want antiobiotics if it nips in the bud

fyi- my 2 children have ear infections and have never needed antibiotics.

I'm more concerned that parents will take up unnecessary NHS resources when it's not needed as they are all in a panic. Most need to get better at assessing their children themselves (to a point) rather than thinking they need a GP for everything. Most kids with strep will be fine with no intervention like they are the rest of the time and don't need taking to a GP everytime they get a bit of a sore throat or a sniffle. Then the ones who are truly unwell can be seen in a timely manner.

No @Mammamia23 you basically said it’s okay for some children to die so your baby can be treated for a self limiting illness. Nasty pow.

I wasnt until two things. One, a year 8 child died. I have secondary school aged children, one in year 8, so I was like huh, i thought it was younger kids and we were out of the danger zone. And two, they are suggesting maybe giving the while class where there is a case penicillin but my dc is allergic. So if everyone else is in "danger" enough to need prophylactic, then that dc is also susceptible

I’m slightly worried about my 7 month old as he has a genetic disorder and has just come out of hospital as he has bronchiolitis. I actually had to ring my GP yesterday as he’s been having a fever and has two rashes that feel like sandpaper. Luckily all is okay and it seems to be eczema. Going by the comments it seems that the worry is regarding people’s DC not being seen too quick enough which I completely understand.

I’m not worried about my 19 month old though. I’m clued up on the symptoms so will just keep an eye out if anything seems dodgy

My two children have got scarlet fever. It's no 'mild illness' as far as I'm concerned, they've both been very unwell, my eldest requiring a&e on Sunday she had a temp of 40 all day and was extremely drowsy and unwell. As mentioned in this thread, what scares me more is the NHS and how busy they are. A&E was absolutely rammed with unwell children, we were moved to a child's unit which had 38 children, and ONE doctor, with 3 nurses. It was mayhem. People were sat on floors, main A&E was equally as bad. I need to speak to a GP as I'm almost certain I have it I have a high temp and my chest and throat is awful, but I can't get an appt. You can't just turn up to A&E and guarantee you'll be seen fairly promptly either, and that's what makes this all the more frightening. Not guaranteed any quick treatment and both of my children became poorly within literally a matter of hours, and they were floored. They're still unwell one has had it a week and the other is on day 3, both on antibiotics.

I think you've missed the point they are trying to make. Antibiotics should be used when needed, for any child. They shouldn't be used be simple viral illness where they won't be any good just to placate parents who won't go away without it. Doctors will prescribe where they feel there is a clinical need, but your average cough does not require it, regardless of the strep situation at the minute.

@KitchiHuritAngeni Yes, and my child was in the NICU shortly after birth as he experienced something that normally effects children mildly. There will always be anomalies. Children will develop strep that turns deadly. What I’m saying is that last winter, children also were dying. This year, parents are frantically trying to get their hands on antibiotics - why weren’t they last year? Why do they think their kids cough is going to kill them? Untreated ear infections can lead to sepsis too you know….

Yes I'm worried about it, my DD came down with a fever and sore throat on Friday evening, we spoke to 111 on Saturday who got us a call back from a doctor who felt is was probably not Strep A as he had a runny nose. He had a rash on his face by the Monday so we saw our GP, they doctor was so kind and thorough and was glad we’d bought him. The concern is how quickly with little kids that they can seem fine one minute and deteriorate the next.

Its a fact that cases are much higher than the last high in 2017-18.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/group-a-streptococcal-infections-activity-during-the-2022-to-2023-season/group-a-streptococcal-infections-report-on-seasonal-activity-in-england-2022-to-2023#scarlet-fever

No one has said anything about coughs? Coughs aren't even listed on the symptoms. They're worried about known outbreaks of scarlet fever in local schools.

At least 8 children in my youngest DC's class have it or are getting over it, with 2 more poorly today and awaiting doctors appointments. Whilst it's concerning it's always worth remembering that the majority of children who have it recover quickly with antibiotics.
The concern is that the doctors appointments are so hard to get hold of at the moment.

@TicTacFrenzy azithromycin is used for pen allergies so don’t worry about that.

@Mammamia23 pen-v is the standard antibiotic for scarlet fever….ear infections are (rarely treated with antibiotics) treated with a different antibiotic anyway

I didn’t say that. Antibitoics should not be given to children who might have a virus just to calm down their frantic parent. They should be prescribed to treat infections and in instances when they work.

antibiotics are already prescribed far too much and thus there is evidence that they are not as effective as they could be.

Are children/babies vomiting with this?

Try watching your children suffer with scarlet fever, especially one which has an autoimmune disease, and then tell people they are losing their minds. I sat in a&e for 7 hours with a child who had a temp of 40.2, lifeless and wasn't once offered paracetamol and had to sit on the floor. Eventually we were isolated and I thankfully had took Calpol with me, but had that not of been the case, that is utterly miserable for a child. Your babies ear infection can't develop into a life threatening illness, strep A can.

There are cases of both.

Its through parents sharing the news directly with other parents that we know. Nursery havent said anything.

I guess the things with nurserys is they don't always know as parents do not need to report absence etc

Yes, they can alongside a sore throat/high temp/headache etc x

Why would that mean your child would get nothing?

Aside from the fact ear infections don’t usually need treating with antibiotics, if they do, it’s a completely different antibiotic than the one given for strep A.

A child in my village is just out of high dependency with it.

4 days of high fever ..no other symptoms at all.

Mother took child to Gp surgery 3 days in a row worried about the fever and was dismissed saying it was a virus. On day 4 she just went to A&E and he ended up in high dependency very unwell . Turns out it was Strep A.

So yes I am worried. Thank god the wee boy is ok , but his poor mother has been very stressed as you can imagine.

I'm not panicking but it is a worry. Ds1 came hone from school with a temperature yesterday. This morning he still had it abd also a sore mouth. I called the GP at 8.30, was seen at 9.40. They weren't worried but dud a throat swab given how rife it is atm.

Right... nobody has denied your child antibiotics they need though, but you want doctors to deny antibiotics to children who need them because you think parents are 'pathetic' for not wanting their child to die from something antibiotics can stop in its tracks.

Yep, or the swine flu like behaviour of trying to get hold of antibiotics 'just in case' when there are already shortages. Whilst parents should get their children checked out if they are concerned, as the NHS is already maxxed out that's the more worrying issue.

Oh @Mammamia23 bless you, you're not doing well at digging yourself out of your pit here...

Strep A is a bacterial infection, that's why the antibiotics are prescribed. Why are you banging on about viruses?

I am 42 and have never heard of Group A Strep until I had a sample test positive for it 5 weeks ago. Immediately prescribed 10 days of high-dose Amoxycillin by GP who said "it's absolutely everywhere at the moment, 25% of our sample tests are coming back positive for it". We are rural SW so usually way behind the curve for infectious bugs, too. Heaven forbid what it's like in the cities if it's like this here.

My symptoms were none of the ones that are listed - I had no rash, cough or fever, just a tummy bug and felt achey and lethargic. It was a fecal sample that they tested, just out of an abundance of caution I think, no reason to suspect Group A.

My kids are 5 and 2 and both their settings have now had kids poorly with IGAS - NOT scarlet fever, which is mild, but the scary INVASIVE form of Strep A that needs to be treated in hospital. Again, these kids didn't have rash and strawberry tongue and sore throat - they had D&V illness with severe and worsening aches and fatigue.

All of this is very concerning to me. (A) according to my GP it was very widespread "25% of their samples" way back at the end of October. (B) the messaging on what we should really be looking out for in our kids is being badly communicated and poorly managed (like when the Covid symptoms were still saying 'new and continuous cough' even during the Omicron wave when most people had fevers and sore throats...)

What's going on seems to me NOT to be like every other year. I suspect that a new strain must be circulating, although they've indicated there's no current evidence for this - I'd say the case numbers are the evidence.

So if everyone else is in "danger" enough to need prophylactic, then that dc is also susceptible

Everyone else is going to be in even more danger once they've had prophylactic antibiotics. They'll have disrupted their gut health and the balance of bacteria in their throats.
The next infection comes along and they've got less personal resources to manage it. How many times do we prescribe antibiotics?
Imagine the bubble situation and the amount of children being sent home each time there was a contact. Then imagine giving them antibiotics each time. It's madness!

Maybe we look at offering support to the body instead or decimating its natural defences.
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7811018/

Why would you not believe there is not a new strain, when this is what scientists have said? The numbers do not mean there’s a new strain. My understanding is that the thinking is that the increase is due to Covid restrictions and the lack of social mixing in the two previous winters. Which makes sense