UK parents told to look out for signs of strep A in their children after six deaths

Six children have died of strep A infections in the UK and health officials want parents to be aware of the symptoms.

The UK Health Security Agency issued a rare alert on Friday evening after a rise in cases across the country, telling parents to seek medical help if they detect signs in their children.

There are a number of symptoms including a sore throat. Most people can be treated with antibiotics and get a full recovery. In rare cases, strep A can become a serious illness, and anyone with unexplained vomiting or diarrhoea should seek medical help.

One or two children under the age of 10 die as a result of strep A in the winter, but five children in England and one in Wales have already died.

There is no evidence of a new strain at the moment. They said that the rise in cases and deaths was most likely due to high amounts of circulatingbacteria.

Strep A can cause a number of health issues, including skin infections and throat problems.

The majority of infections are not life threatening, but the bacterium can cause a life threatening illness called iGAS disease.

According to the UKHSA, there has been a significant increase in scarlet fever cases recently. There were more cases reported in the week of 14 to 20 November than in the previous year.

There have been 2.3 cases of iGAS per 100,000 children in England this year, compared with an average of 1.5 in the pre-pandemic seasons. The pre-pandemic average was about 0.2 per 100,000 children.

There were four deaths in children under the age of 10 in England during the last high season for the disease. Five is the figure this year.

The deputy director of the UKHSA said that they are seeing a higher number of cases of group A strep this year.

It's easy to treat a sore throat with antibiotics if you're caused by the bacteria. In rare circumstances, thisbacteria can get into the bloodstream and cause serious illness.

This is not very common. It is important for parents to see a doctor as soon as possible so that their child can be treated if they get sick.

You should talk to a health professional if your child is showing signs of getting sick after a bout of illness.

There have been reports of an increase in lower respiratory tract infections in children that have caused severe illness over the past few weeks.

The agency confirmed on Friday that a child who attended St John's primary school in west London had died of strep A, as well as the parents of a four-year-old boy who died of it.

The mother of Muhammad Ibrahim Ali, who attended the Oakridge school and nursery in High Wycombe, said that the loss is great.

A child from Victoria primary school in Penarth, four miles south of Wales, died of the disease, as well as a six-year-old who died at a school in Surrey.

There have been at least six deaths in England and Wales since the beginning of the year. There is no data from Scotland and Northern Ireland at this time.

There are a lot of viruses that cause sore throats, colds and coughs that should be resolved by themselves. Children can get abacterial infections on top of a viral one and that can make them sick.

If a child is getting worse, is feeding or eating less than normal, or has had a dry nappy for 12 hours or more, parents are being told to get in touch with the health service.

If the baby is less than three months old and has a temperature greater than 39C, they should seek help. If the child is tired or upset, there are other red flags.

If a child is having difficulty breathing, such as grunting noises or tummy sucking in under the ribs, pauses in breathing, blue colour to their skin, tongue or lips, or if they are floppy and will not wake up or stay awake, parents should call the emergency services.

A lack of mixing could be to blame for a drop in immunity to infections such as strep A.

I don't know of any factor linking these reported deaths, so it's impossible to link them, but I expect there to be more cases over the next few months.

Lack of mixing in kids may have caused a drop in population-wide immunity that could increase transmission, particularly in school-age children.