British health authorities are calling for vigilance. Six children, under the age of ten, have died in the UK from invasive strep A infections, the particular bacterium that causes scarlet fever, a disease that is mostly benign and easily treatable.
However, cases are on the rise in this 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 insurance agency (UKHSA).
The deaths were recorded within seven days of diagnosis of invasive group A strep infection this season in England. A sixth death has also been recorded in Wales.
Most mild infections
Streptococci A can cause mild or fatal infections, especially when they get into the bloodstream, diseases such as tonsillitis, impetigo (skin infection), and scarlet fever.
As the Institut Pasteur recalls, streptococcal A infections “are common”, as are streptococcal B infections. These two bacteria only cause symptoms “under certain conditions” or “in people at risk”.
Group A strep is transmitted “exclusively from man to man,” recalls the institute, particularly 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, streptococci A cause many mild infections – angina, impetigo – but sometimes they can be “invasive” and serious: bacteraemia, necrotizing skin infections, puerperal infections, pleuropneumopathies, meningitis that may be associated with a syndrome of streptococcal toxicity. shock.
Hygiene as the main prevention
However, the mortality rate remains very low: it is estimated at 10% for all pathologies combined. It increases in case of severe infections: the mortality rate in case of streptococcal toxic shock increases to 30% and to 20% for meningitis.
To prevent infections, 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. However, “lack of contact, linked to the covid-19 pandemic, may have caused a decline in population-wide immunity that could increase transmission, particularly among school-age children,” said advanced microbiologist Dr. Simon Clarke, from the University of Reading. .
Source: BFM TV
