Home » World » Nine children in UK die from strep infection | UK News | Group A strep | Antibiotics

Nine children in UK die from strep infection | UK News | Group A strep | Antibiotics

[The Epoch Times, 8 dicembre 2022](The Epoch TimesUK.Report from the reporter station) Recently, there have been at least nine cases of children in the UK due to infectionGroup A strep(Strep A) and died. Experts remind parents to pay attention to the symptoms of this infectious disease.

UK.Nine children have died from invasive surgery since September, says the Health Security Agency (UKHSA).Group A strepInvasive group A streptococcus infection, including six children in England, a Welsh girl and a girl in Northern Ireland, all under the age of ten.

Another 12-year-old boy died of an invasive group A strep infection. He was the first middle school student to die from the infection this year. The boy reportedly attended a private school in Lewisham, London.

Cases have also been noted in Scotland, including eight more serious cases, all under the age of ten.

The HSA said the last time there was a significant increase in group A strep cases in the UK was in 2017-18, when four babies died in three months.

The increase in Strep A cases and deaths could be due to the increased amount of virus transmitted among children, combined with increased contacts between children, the department said.

British governmentNick Gibb, undersecretary for primary and secondary affairs in the Ministry of Education, said the government could provide schools with strep cases.antibioticavailable to students. The health ministry said existing stocks of antibiotics were sufficient.

Parents at schools where deaths from invasive group A strep have been reported are so concerned that some have made it clear they will keep their children out of school for now.

One of the victims, a six-year-old girl, was a primary school student in Ashford, Surrey. Teachers at another primary school near the school informed parents last week that two children at the school had been infected with strep A.

The HSA’s advice is that “children should continue to attend school as normal and parents should not be overly vigilant,” the school said. But parents took to social media to say they were so concerned they decided to keep their children out of school for now because Strep A spreads so easily.

The Health Security Bureau said local government health and epidemic prevention departments can decide for themselves whether students in schools with confirmed cases should temporarily be homeschooled. But for children showing symptoms of scarlet fever, the Health Protection Agency advises them to stay at home.

Group A strep

Group A strep lives in a person’s throat and skin. While most people get it with mild symptoms, it can cause many different serious illnesses. It can survive for a long time on a person’s hands or throat, then can be spread through sneezing, kissing, or skin-to-skin contact.

Most infections are mild and range from strep throat to skin infections. Scarlet fever may occur in some cases, but most cases can be treated with antibiotic medicines.

In rare cases, group A strep bacteria can enter deeper layers of the body, such as infecting the lungs or blood, which is called invasive group A strep infection. This condition can be serious and even life-threatening. .

Children between the ages of five and 15, seniors over 65, and people with compromised immune systems are most susceptible to group A strep.

what are the symptoms

According to the NHS website, symptoms of group A strep include skin rashes, sore throat, flushed cheeks, body aches, high fever, fatigue and ear infections.

Some people carry group A strep without showing any symptoms, but they can pass it on to others. Typically, people infected with group A strep develop symptoms after two to five days.

Some people develop abscesses on the skin that can be treated with antibiotics.

Type A strep and scarlet fever

Some people infected with group A strep develop scarlet fever, a cold-like symptom that includes a high fever, sore throat, and swollen glands on the sides of the neck. After 12-48 hours, a rash appears, starting on the chest, stomach and spreading. The rash feels like sand to the touch. A white film will appear on the tongue, and when it falls off, the tongue will become red, swollen and have small bumps.

Beate Kampmann, professor of pediatric infectious diseases, said the number of scarlet fever cases in the UK this year is three times higher than before the outbreak. Most people infected with group A strep will have no symptoms, but some people will have symptoms of strep throat., followed by scarlet fever and, rarely, invasive group A strep infections.

Scarlet fever, caused by a poison made by group A streptococci, has seen three times as many cases of scarlet fever in the UK this year as before the outbreak, and the rash can disappear after around 10 days, he said.

He said if children were seriously ill and parents were concerned about strep A, they should seek medical attention and children with fevers should stay out of school for now.

Strep A can be treated with penicillin, she said, but parents should take their children to a doctor if they are not eating or drinking and are very sleepy.

There were 851 cases of scarlet fever in the UK in the week of 14-20 November this year, compared with an average of 186 cases per week the previous year.

Scarlet fever is also a highly contagious disease in children. Scarlet fever can be spread through close contact with a carrier, the Health Protection Agency said. The coughing, sneezing, singing and talking of a person infected with scarlet fever can infect passers-by.

Someone with scarlet fever can infect others by touching their hands and touching things.

The epidemic weakens the children’s immunity

Virologist Chris Smith said the rise in strep A cases could be linked to a decline in children’s immunity after the outbreak.

Over the past three years, the kids have seen less contact with each other, she said, and “they’re getting lower-than-normal levels of germs, and they’re not getting germs at a time when this age group would normally get those germs.”

The HSA said there were 2.3 cases of invasive group A strep infection in England for every 100,000 children aged one to four this year, compared with an average of 0.5 per year in the 2018-19. Among children aged five to nine, there were 1.1 cases per 100,000 people, up from 0.3 before the outbreak.

When should an ambulance be called?

Experts from the Health Security Bureau recommend that if children have the following conditions, they should call 999 to call an ambulance or take them to the hospital emergency room.

1. Babies have difficulty breathing, such as a nose that purrs when they gasp

2. The child pauses in breathing

3. The child has bluish skin, tongue or lips

4. The child is very sleepy and does not want to get up or stay awake

A sore throat after a strep infection is a little different than a sore throat from a common cold because the pain usually comes on very quickly. The NHS advises people to see a doctor if their symptoms have not improved after a week with a sore throat or if it is accompanied by fever and tremors.

Seriously ill four-year-old girl

Four-year-old Camila (Camila Rose Burns) is currently in the intensive care unit at Liverpool Children’s Hospital. She has been on a ventilator since November 28 due to the severity of her symptoms.

His father, Dean Burns, has urged parents of other children to be careful. “If there’s any doubt, if the babies don’t seem right, take them immediately and take them to the hospital,” he said.

She said her daughter fell ill on Nov. 26. He and her wife rushed her to Bolton hospital the next morning when she discovered she was hallucinating. Unexpectedly, her daughter’s condition deteriorated rapidly: on the morning of November 28, she had to use a ventilator and was then transferred to a special children’s hospital.

Burns said that he and his wife had almost no rest these days and prayed for their daughter’s safety. Although her daughter’s symptoms were relatively stable, he and his wife did not dare to relax at all, for fear that her condition daughter got worse. still. ◇

Responsible editor: Chen Bin

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