Strep A??

[flippityflip]

Midwife wants me to get a throat swab tomorrow for Strep A and said it can have implications in pregnancy. I did a quick google and all I can find is on Strep B,anyone any ideas what the implications are for Strep A?
Also if I do have it should I get the kids checked out too?How easily does it pass from person to person?

www.nhs.uk/conditions/streptococcal-infections/Pages/Introduction.aspx

info on it here, main concern on there is that is can affect babies under 6 months as they have weakened immune systems

There is more awareness now of the significance of group A strep infections affecting pregnancy and the postnatal period as there have been increasing numbers of women getting septic from it. The majority, if not all, of the women affected either had small children or worked with them. Fortunately most women who have group a strep infections will be fine after a course of antibiotics.

I wasn't aware of any screening programmes for it though: is it routine where you are or is it because you've had a sore throat recently? Is it research? I can't think why the kids would need to be tested (if they've got an infection it'll show as sore throat, impetigo, scarlet fever etc) but check with whoever is swabbing you what the rationale is for the test.

No not routine,I had some spotting and was talking to the midwife who asked if otherwise I was feeling well.I said yes other than a very sore throat which wasn't pregnancy related,at which point she said they had seen more cases recently of it and so would like me to go to the GP and get swabbed as it had implications in pregnancy.

Are you close to giving birth? If so it's probably not a bad idea, actually. Strep A has been consistently implicated in genital tract sepsis in the postnatal period as Cadi mentioned. I'm not aware of it being a problem in pregnancy though, just afterwards.

Your midwife is right to have your sore throat checked out, sounds wise. If it's positive for a bacterial infection, such as group A strep, then it should just be oral antibiotics and you're sorted. It can cause antenatal sepsis but, putting it into perspective, that is pretty rare.

Thankyou for all the info!Feeling really rotten today now but not sure if just some viral thing as so many bugs going around!