What to know about symptoms, risks and treatments

GAS is a bacteria that causes the dreaded strep throat that can be common in children.

The bacteria can also cause more serious illnesses, including scarlet fever, which leads to rashes and fever, and impetigo, which leads to sores.

The UK warning was issued after the agency saw 851 cases reported in a week in mid-November this year compared to an average of 186 in the same week in previous years, raising alarm bells, it is the number of deaths – although still low in number at less than 10 years – from invasive GAS (iGAS).

dr. Jessica Maddenboard-certified pediatrician and neonatologist who also works as the medical director of Aeroflow breast pumps alongside her own practice, says one of the challenges with this spike in Strep A infections, particularly l strep throat, is that symptoms of other conditions can mask its presence.

In addition, children can have several diseases at the same time with similar symptoms.

“I think what’s very confusing about this fall and early winter with Strep A definitely circulating in the pediatric population, and also so many different upper respiratory viral diseases, is that we have a lot of kids who have both at the same time,” Madden said. “They have influenza A, but they also have strep throat, or they have rhinovirus or RSV with strep throat and sometimes strep throat can be missed because a lot of these other viral illnesses that are going around can cause a very very sore throat with enlarged lymph nodes.

Another challenge for healthcare workers is that, unlike the UK’s National Health Service (NHS), the US system reports on these conditions differently.

According to pediatric infectious disease expert and researcher Dr. Anthony Flores (MD, PhD) from the University of Texas Health and Memorial Hermann Children’s Hospital in Houston, making it difficult to track more concerning conditions like scarlet fever.

“Historically, and it was done through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and so they have something called Active Bacterial Core Surveillance that monitors invasive disease,” Flores said. “Generally, what interests them the most is what we call invasive diseases. And that’s when these bacteria get into normally sterile sites, get into the bloodstream, get into bones and joints and things like that. Scarlet fever is not classically considered an invasive disease and so this has not been tracked.

When it comes to invasive GAS, however, the CDC places the number of cases over the past five years as being between 14,000 and 25,000 in the United States. The average number of deaths is between 1,500 and 2,300 people per year, according to the CDC.

Dr Christina Johnspediatric emergency physician and senior medical advisor for PM Pediatric Care in Annapolis, Maryland, says the severity of a patient’s condition can change quickly when it comes to group A strep, especially in children.

“The tricky part about these… rarer cases of invasive group A strep is that children can get very sick very quickly,” Johns said. “A lot of times it’s a kind of situation where children will go, in terms of the severity of their disease, from zero to 60 very, very quickly and so any rapid deterioration in condition is always worth attention.”

Symptoms scarlet fever and GAS

• Scarlet fever has a characteristic rash, often described as sandpaper.
• Invasive GAS is linked to very high fever and can cause the life-threatening condition of sepsis.
• Impetigo often includes what Dr. Johns calls a “honey-colored scab” on the skin.
• Experts say that if your child has symptoms and doesn’t seem to be as alert or responsive as usual, go to the emergency room immediately.

The UKHSA has identified the latest peak as being in 2017-18 and attributes this year’s outbreak in part to an increase in socialising.

Dr. Flores says these spikes come at times of the year when they wouldn’t typically be seen. Instead of spikes occurring in April and May, they seem to occur in November and December. He attributes these increased rates, similar to the large amount of RSV cases he sees in the pediatric system, to a combination of a previous lack of exposure and an increase in masking over the past two years.

“Close contact with other people really promotes that transmission and so masking has been incredibly effective in stopping that. And now that we’re not masking as much and we’re closer, I think we’re seeing higher transmission rates than what we’ve seen in the last two years. »

The most common treatment for GAS is the prescription of the antibiotic amoxicillin. While the common antibiotic is in short supply in some parts of the country, Johns says there’s no reason to panic as there are other options available.

“I think that’s the kind of situation that can really turn into a really scary hype very quickly. ‘Oh my word, that’s the bacteria that causes strep throat, my kid had strep throat, does that mean that my child will now die?’ And I think it’s important to point out that group A strep is seen all the time, certainly in the pediatric setting.

In terms of prevention, the bacterium is very contagious and must therefore be treated with antibiotics. If the infection shows signs on the skin, such as cracks, it is important to cover these areas to also reduce the risk of transmission.