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.

No it does not. However the presence of a cough is not enough to rule out a strep infection. But if a cough is present its much
more likely to be a simple viral infection.

Good advice for parents wondering if their child might have an infection can be found here:
Great Ormand Street Hospital

I wouldn’t have been that worried but DS (8) has been poorly today and actually all my powers of rational reasoning have gone. He’s got a temperature (not a raging one though), headache, but achy and has been sick once. He’s grotty but not awful (demanding drinks/snacks playing on Xbox) and has only had a short nap rather than being really sleepy. I felt exactly like this with noro and I know that’s probably what it is, but I’m a useless ball of anxiety and watching him like a hawk.

I have terrible health anxiety but am not worried really. DS had scarlet fever last year and tonsillitis a few months earlier (on top of Covid). He needed hospital both times and was unwell but I saw how quickly he responded to treatment and that has probably stood me in good stead. We have a very good local surgery who will see children regardless. They simply stay behind until all children are seen.

I'm worried about DH who needs to see a gp and can't. He's been trying for 3 weeks.

Our 3 year old was sent home from school today with probable strep. Very pink cheeks, high temperature, sore throat.

We went to the doctor on school's advice and they said they have been treating anxious families all day, but our son was the first likely case they had seen. They swabbed and will let us know, but started straight away on antibiotics.

They said that strep responds incredibly well to antibiotics and we should see a very rapid turnaround. If not, that would be a sign it's viral after all. We got the last bottles of antibiotic from the pharmacy today, but they had boxes and boxes delivered as we were there.

We are now quarantining the 3 year old from our twin babies and hoping it isn't too late, but pretty sure it must be. My heart goes out to the families who have lost children, and we are going to be watchful and fast to seek help. I guess vigilance is the only response.

My granddaughter has been diagnosed with strep A today, had a prescription from GP but no amoxicillin or penicillin available and I have rung around all the chemists within an hour of me! Advice to start asap, how is this happening. Supplies should have been upped as soon as the cases were rising.

I'm not particularly worried about strep A itself- I'm more worried about people getting access to prompt treatment. I'd not be worried at all if it was easy to get a doctor's appointment- I've had it before (as a child and adult) and the only time the doctor told me it was viral and didn't give me antibiotics was the time I ended up in hospital on IV antibiotics.

My GP will see children the same day if they have the symptoms and gave my DS antibiotics with no issues when I took him in with white spots on his tonsils last week, I'd be a lot more worried if my GP surgery wasn't so thorough though so I'm very sympathetic to people who are worried.

I’m not worried as it’s only slightly more who’ve died than before covid.

I think the media has a lot to answer for.

Since covid they’ve tried to use scare tactics for covid, monkey pox, bird flu and now this.

Yes it’s bad but so is meningitis, cancer, flu, covid, measles etc.

There will always be something scary going around.

Tbh if I was a primary school I would think about closing early or having the option for children to stay home, just to put their parents minds at rest but I guess with covid people would lose their minds if that was suggested.

Of course not

I’m an intelligent adult who can assess risk based on facts, not media hysterics

closing the schools is worrying also because you have to wonder if this hasn’t been made worse by that in the first place.

@Goatsanddogs can you go back to gp and ask for the next best thing?

Thanks, DD has a bit of a phlegmy cough and runny nose and pink cheeks but no temp and her tongue/throat appear fine. So I’m guessing just your run of the mill cold.

There's a shortage (not just here) due to manufacturing and supply chain issues. Not easily solved unfortunately.

Perhaps if the GP had listened to me about my concerns about my 3 year old and swabbed her earlier when I first asked, the bacterial infection might not have spread to my two other daughters including baby who was quite ill, husband who has ear infections now, and other daughter who recently had chicken pox. 7+ further emergency appointments between us. If the presumption wasn't just that parents are hysterical, there would have been a lot more free appointments for other people, not to mention my family would not have gone through such a miserable time!

@Goatsanddogs

I think we were already running low before the numbers started rising. Although the question does beg to be asked, Why was the amount allowed to fall so low to begin with? As covid proved, you never know what is around the corner, and it is better to be prepared. Hope you manage to get hold of some and your granddaughter feels better soon.

Read a FB post there suggesting you can get a step A test at a community pharmacy and if it's positive the pharmacist will give you antibiotics. Might be bollocks.

I haven't read all the thread so apologies if someone has already said. You can get test kits for strep A.
www.amazon.co.uk/GIMA-Strep-streptococco-cassette-tests/dp/B075SCQFTL/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?crid=20FRWVIQQBLJ6&keywords=strep+a+test+kit&qid=1670366525&sprefix=strep+A%2Caps%2C137&sr=8-2

The little girl who died today in Belfast was brought to A&E twice by her father, and sent home again. It is horrific to think that she could have been saved.

It is not just that it is a potentially dangerous bug, but the NHS is failing in its duty of care due to pressures in A&E. And Belfast's RVH has a dedicated children's ED, and this just should not be bloody happening.

I would like to know if there is a possible link between breastfeeding and getting a milder form of strep if caught?

I am currently still breastfeeding my 1 year old, and I fed my 5 year old until 16months.

@hellycat terrifying. I think it's definitely that the nhs can't cope. You don't expect this to happen at a childrens hospital.

After saying I wasn't too worried easier, DS is now hot with a rash. Waiting a call back from 111.

dont you worry about the karma in saying stuff like that? Is that just me?

Hope he's ok

I’m concerned at how widespread this seems to be all of a sudden. It feels like Covid is a foot in the door of our immune systems letting all these potentially nasty viruses and bugs in to wreak havoc on us all.

I have a child with current awful cough and sore throat, can't swallow without pain, white fuzzy tongue.

He's OK in himself. Temp a bit raised. No rash (been vigilant).

I'm not terrified of Strep A. I am terrified that at some point any of us might need emergency treatment and be denied it because the NHS can't cope. I have personal experience of this (pre covid) and its traumatising.

A family member was diagnosed with blood cancer yesterday. They were sent to A&E because the GP couldn't directly refer any more. Imagine being that person, waiting in A&E, ready to say "I've just been diagnosed woth Leukaemia". The system is fucked. Healthcare is no longer a right we all have.

I find all the ‘hysterical parents,’ comments on here so distasteful when nine children have died.
Nine families are facing the thing we all as parents never want to face. People should be a bit more tactful.

I haven’t been ‘hysterical’ but my two kids have been ill for a couple of weeks. I dismissed as a virus although it was mainly a sore throat and sort of lethargy, but all my family have caught it, their grandparents, cousins, friends etc and have been really unwell and my dds just weren’t shaking it off. My 5 yo’s two best friends have both tested positive for strep A and are on antibiotics. So I took my dds to the docs today just in case and they between them have croup and tonsillitis! I felt awful for not taking them sooner. Both are now on a course of antibiotics and I’m glad because tonight my 2yo was more poorly, red cheeked and drowsy. And crying that her throat hurt :( The GP didn’t test for strep A but told me to keep an eye on them. She checked oxygen levels, temps, their chests and throats etc. and I feel lucky we got a good doctor who didn’t just dismiss us.

We are not far from where an older child died of strep a on Monday.