British health authorities are calling for vigilance. Nine children, all under the age of ten, have died in the UK from invasive strep A infectionsthe particular bacterium that causes scarlet fever, a disease that is mostly benign and easily treatable.
However, cases are on the rise in that country. The rate for this year is 2.3 cases per 100,000 children aged 1 to 4, compared to an average of 0.5 from 2017 to 2019, according to the UK health security agency (UKHSA).
From the United Kingdom, NHS officials have stressed that strep A infections are generally mild and easily treated with the antibiotic amoxicillin, which is used to treat bacterial diseases. But an invasive form of the bacteria, known as IgAhas increased this year, particularly in children under 10 years of age.
The deaths of the children were recorded within seven days of diagnosis of invasive group A streptococcal infection.
As the Pasteur Institute reminds us, strep A infections “are common”as well as those of streptococci B. These two bacteria only cause symptoms “under certain conditions”, or “in people at risk”.
Group A strep is transmitted “exclusively from person to person”, recalls the institute, in particular by inhaling droplets of secretions from the throat or nose, when an infected person coughs or sneezes. Contact with infected skin wounds can also transmit the bacteria.
In most cases, A streptococci cause many mild infections, but sometimes they can be “invasive” and severe: bacteraemia, necrotizing skin infections, puerperal infections, pleuropneumopathies, meningitis which may be associated with a streptococcal toxicity syndrome.
However, the mortality rate remains very low: it is estimated at 10% for all pathologies combined. It increases in case of serious infections: the mortality rate in case of streptococcal toxic ‘shock’ increases to 30% and to 20% for meningitis.
Hygiene is essential
To prevent infection, hygiene plays a fundamental role: Hands should be washed before meals, before preparing food, and after coughing or sneezing. In case of infection, the reference treatment remains the antibiotic, underlines the Pasteur Institute.
Currently, scientists do not know of any proof of the existence of a new strain, according to doctors interviewed by the English press. The lack of contact, linked to the Covid-19 pandemic, “may have caused a decrease in immunity in the entire population that could increase transmission, particularly among school-age children,” said microbiologist Simon Clarke, from the University of Reading.