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.

I'm worried because of what I have read on Facebook

Sky news has posted a article no shortage of antibiotics

Yet if you read the comments it hundreds of parents saying they have been to multiple pharmacies and can get nothing

Now that to me is scary

We have been informed today they have it at school. I am not overly worried as my daughter has had scarlet fever before and recovered quickly. Providing they have the antibiotics of course. She had an ear infection a couple of weeks ago and I had to go to a couple of places before I could get the antibiotics.

I am mildly concerned yes though both my kids are currently fine.
What's more worrying though is that GP practices and A&E is currently full of kids with sore throats and panicked parents. So everyone else, regardless of what their illness is, will find it harder to get the right help and more people (and children) will die, at a time when the NHS is already obviously severely stretched.

Meanwhile doctors will be prescribing more antibiotics as a precaution which is understandable but some pharmacies are no longer able to get the right antibiotics in promptly so some of the kids that really need them will be delayed in getting them.

yes we all need to be more vigilant but the media are to blame to some extent

Ok but what do you propose parents with ill children do instead? Yes they won’t all have a deadly infection, but if their children have symptoms that we as parents have all been advised to look out for, why wouldn’t they get them checked over? ‘Being vigilant’ means looking out for symptoms surely. I don’t know how busy your GP practice is but ours is very difficult to get through to. So who are you to judge those parents trying to ensure their children are well. Who decides which child is more important?

I don't know what you've read but, without anyone saying parents need to panic, no expert is being so complacent and blase about this.

DS has been given antibiotics, the Dr asked if he could take tablets as there is a shortage of the liquid. We've taken the tablets, we could have had liquid but DS is pretty amenable to most things so I'm sure will get the knack of tablets quickly.

Probably not. We're probably just seeing the cases we didn't see during lockdown and those children are better placed to be ill because they're older. So there would probably have been more overall cases spread over the years without Covid. However that doesn't factor in what extra teeth the virus could have in a population with naive immunity. We don't seem to have seen that happening yet though.

woah I am not judging anyone and I would be just as panicked as any other parent if it looked like one of my kids had it.
I am merely saying that unfortunately the panic that there is will make it harder for everyone to get the care that they need. Undoubtedly more parents will seek attention, and sooner, than they would do otherwise. Which is not very helpful for those who need urgent attention. Both the media and NHS have a part to play in making sure parents aren't panicking unnecessarily and overloading an already extremely stretched NHS. A relatively high proportion of kids with RSV or bronchiolitis will be hospitalised. A much smaller proportion of kids with strep A will be. The messaging needs to be clearer with all these as to when parents should seek urgent attention - if all these parents turn up at A&E then more children will die. Hopefully the 111 call handlers can help with this - I have found the service to be hit and miss but sometimes very helpful.

Schools also have a part to play in informing parents when there are known outbreaks in schools. Some parents will want to keep their kids off and understandably so.

Look I really don't want to be alarmist.
But I need to ask this question.

Has anyone else experienced this? My dd had strep three weeks ago, she has had 2 cycles of antibiotics and seemed to be getting better, then she just becomes ill again and has relapses (she is 16). It seems she can not shake it.

I did some research and now I am worried it is this: Super Strep A' found in Australia. Does anyone else know anything more about this? It seems oddly coincidental that we are dealing with a huge outbreak here and this has been discovered in Australia. Moreover, we do tend to 'follow' Australian flu, cold and covid outbreaks and our vaccines are modified accordingly. So I am wondering if this is being hushed up/kept on the backburner or not yet properly investigated here in the UK. I would be surprised if wasn't here tbh given all the problems we are experiencing.

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/11/30/undetectable-superbug-strain-strep-discovered-immune-antibiotics/

The article goes on to say that penicillin is not effected by this new pathway of resistance and so the strep A is still killed by penicillin which is the antibiotic of choice for strep A in the UK.

I don’t know, something feels off with this outbreak. Blaming lockdowns as though everyone was isolated for 2 years with no contact with the outside world just seems like wishful thinking.

@Luxurysleuth007 it's been seen with multiple other illnesses in the last year. Its not that people didn't have contact but that people weren't in such close proximity in high numbers and many were still keeping distance. Combined with limits on numbers for 2 winters does mean that illnesses circulate less which means the immune system isn't as exposed and therefore can create a stronger response which isn't always good (goes into hyper drive)
It's already been seen with adenovirus in children causing hepatitis in cases through lack of exposure. The flu numbers are also massively up, so are most other viruses tbh!

I wouldn't call it pathetic. They are understandably worried for their children's health. We are put on this earth to protect our children so something like this is going to worry parents and isn't pathetic.

So why aren't the antibiotics working? The infection has moved from the throat, to the voice box, into her ears and on her chest. I don't understand how she can have two cycles and still be ill.

Something doesn't feel right to me. Instinctively I know this as her mother. She is a very strong, fit and healthy girl and is rarely ill and this is the worst illness she has ever had, and she is still not feeling well many weeks later.

But 3 weeks isn't all that long to be poorly. Not nice for her of course but wouldn't necessarily be an indicator or something more sinister.

I have just had a text message off my GP surgery to say that due to the high amount of demand for their services because of strep A, Scarlett fever and covid they are now refusing any non urgent appointments. This has made me worry, it feels like the start of covid all over again but this time worse because it's threatening children. I have two daughters 1 and 4 years old. My 1 year old is constantly ill, she's had to have two rounds of antibiotics in the last 5 months and seems to be constantly ill. I suffer with anxiety myself so feel like I can't always trust my instincts.

Can I ask where abouts you are ?
It's worrying me. I have a ten week old and a primary aged dc. I totally agree about the Covid comparison but a million times worse because it's our children !

@massivecringe I am in Shropshire (midlands) I haven't heard of any cases in my daughters school or my youngest nursery, or in the local area so I am shocked to have received that text off my surgery. I am hoping if their are cases in the school or nursery they will let parents know as I will pull them out for awhile.

Why has it made you worry? They are not limiting appointments because of infection risk but probably because parents are bringing in children who are perfectly healthy but have a sore throat/mild temp/cold taking up appointments that genuinely ill people need. Your GP is being sensible by making sure there are appointments for those who need them.

It's normal for a 1 year old to have lots of viruses and as a 2nd child, they do seem to get all the bugs their sibling brings on without you knowing.

2 lots of antibiotics on 5 months is not actually too bad for that age group although I can remember the days when my youngest was always ill and it is super stressful.

I would try not to worry though. If you need an appt for any signs of strep a then I am sure your gp will see the kids.

Probably if I am honest, most of the times I took my kids to the Dr's were unnecessary and more about reassuring me.

Try not to worry.

Yeah I agree it's quite a suprise to have something like that said ! Our school have been completely silent on it all so far.
I want to take my dc out early but I also don't want to seem irrational islf nobody else is doing it... that's my anxiety talking though!
I'm also in the midlands.

Can anyone help me understand the Chickenpox link? I believe children who have had Chickenpox are more at risk of developing Strep A but is there a window of time for that to be the case? Presumambly developing Strep A would come at the same time or immediately after contracting Chickenpox?

I really really don't think anyone can blame parents for taking thier children to the doctors with a sore throat and a temperature at the moment. Yes it might be viral. Yes usually you would give it a couple of days and wait and see. But nine children have died over the past few days and thier photographs all over the news. I will be not be taking any chances with my six year old if he gets poorly, especially as there has been confirmed cases of scarlet fever in his school. No parent is going to think "well, other children have died but I mustn't waste NHS resources so let's give it a couple of days" the plan to get my child seen to straight away if he gets symptoms is the only thing calming my anxiety.

Chickenpox increases the risk of a child contracting an infection because it damages the skin and can leave open lesions, according to the experts, while the flu leads to increased coughing and sneezing, raising the risk of the bacteria being spread around.

@BesidetheseasideXxx Your information is wrong and fear mongering. 9 children have died since September (still awful know). Not the last few days. Do some research for god sake.