Advertisement

Pupil, 6, dies from Strep A infection after outbreak at school in Surrey

Ashford Church of England Primary School - Surrey Live / BPM Media
Ashford Church of England Primary School - Surrey Live / BPM Media

A primary school child in Surrey has died after catching the scarlet fever bacteria amid concerns of a post-pandemic rise in cases of the infection.

Scarlet fever is a common childhood infection caused by Streptococcus pyogenes, also known as group A Streptococcus (GAS). The bacteria is easily treated with antibiotics, namely penicillin, if caught early enough.

People often catch the bacteria that causes tonsillitis, scarlet fever, and in rare and severe cases people can develop “invasive group A Strep”, or iGAS.

The condition occurs when the bacteria enters parts of the body it does not normally reach, like the blood, and releases toxins that can lead to shock, sepsis or pneumonia.

A Year One pupil at Ashford Church of England Primary School developed iGAS and sadly died earlier this week.

Official statistics from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) show that for every 100,000 cases of scarlet fever, 3.1 people will develop iGAS.

However, the rate is around nine per 100,000 for children under one and eight for children aged one to four.

An electron microscope image of Group A Streptococcus (orange) during phagocytic interaction with a human neutrophil (blue) - AP/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
An electron microscope image of Group A Streptococcus (orange) during phagocytic interaction with a human neutrophil (blue) - AP/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Data show the rate of iGAS is higher this year than it was pre-pandemic for children aged between one and nine years old.

There have been almost 16,000 cases of scarlet fever in England in the last 12 months and 1,766 cases of iGAS.

For the last two winters, there have been very few seasonal viruses circulating, with social isolation measures enforced as a result of the Covid pandemic ensuring other infectious diseases did not spread.

“I don’t think there’s a lack of immunity. I don’t think that children are more likely to get [Strep A] than before, I just think that we haven’t seen it,” Dr Liz Whittaker, a consultant in paediatric infectious diseases at Imperial College healthcare, told The Telegraph.

An individual’s risk from the virus is the same as pre-pandemic, she added, but their exposure is higher now due to it circulating freely for the first time in several years.

Another expert also told The Telegraph: “Now that everything’s going back to normal we are going to see these cases coming back just like we did before the pandemic.

“There may be a few more cases now than there would have been before [Covid] because all these kids didn’t get any infection during the pandemic and therefore there are more kids around who haven’t had it.

“If this had been spread over three years it may not be as high at all but because they’re all getting it together it looks like there’s a lot more infections.”

Health authorities issued guidance recently saying that children who recently had flu or chickenpox are more likely to develop a serious case, such as iGAS if they catch Strep A.

Chickenpox causes lesions that allow the bacteria to get into the bloodstream and this makes it easier for the invasive form of the disease to occur.

For flu, the viral infection damages the respiratory system and changes the immune system, which makes it easier for the bacteria to spread into deeper areas and cause more harm.

Dr Whittaker said if a child has had chickenpox or the flu one or two weeks prior to catching Strep A then they are at increased risk of severe disease.

“With most viral infections you’ll have a fever for up to five days and then often it’ll settle,” she said.

“If you suddenly start getting high fevers again a couple of days later then that’s possibly a secondary bacterial infection.”

She added that if a child gets a fever again more than a week after recovering from the initial bout of sickness then that is something for parents to keep an eye on to seek medical advice.

Flu is on the rise in the UK with hospitalisation rates on the rise in children and the elderly.