A deadly wave of Strep A infections looks set to take off in the US, after more than a dozen children died from the bacterial infection in the UK.
Children’s hospitals in five states — Arizona, Colorado, Texas, Washington and West Virginia — say they are now seeing a surge in patients struck down by the disease.
At the country’s largest pediatric hospital, the Texas Children’s Hospital, they are already handling four times more patients than last year.
One teenager in Washington was put on a ventilator over fears their Strep A had led to sepsis. At least two children in Colorado have died from the disease since November.
Strep A infections are normally mild, but cases are on the rise this year after lockdowns robbed children of exposure to good germs — damaging their immunity.
UK health authorities have blamed their wave of infections on lockdowns which has already led to at least 16 deaths. Other European countries — including France, Spain and Ireland — are also seeing upticks.
Strep A symptoms include rashes and sores around the body, flushed cheeks, a sore throat, muscles aches and fever. It is a relatively mild illness that does not cause many pediatric deaths each year
Strep A bacteria can cause a myriad of infections including impetigo, scarlet fever and strep throat.
While the vast majority of infections are relatively mild, sometimes the bacteria can, in exceptionally rare cases, cause invasive Group A Streptococcal (iGAS) — a life-threatening complication.
Two of the most severe, but rare, forms of this invasive disease are necrotising fasciitis and streptococcal toxic shock syndrome.
The shock syndrome can lead to low blood pressure, multiple organ failure and death.
Dr James Versalovic, pathologist-in-chief at Texas Children’s Hospital, told NBC News that the cases they had were ‘beyond ordinary strep throat’.
His hospital recorded around 60 cases in October and November. While this number seems low, it is four times higher than the 15 or so reported for the same period last year.
Texas Children’s Hospital, the biggest in the US with 973 beds, says it has recorded four times more patients with Strep A compared to the same time last year
What are the symptoms of Strep A? How does it spread? And is it the same as scarlet fever? Everything you need to know about the killer bug sweeping Britain
What is Strep A?
Group A Streptococcus (Group A Strep or Strep A) bacteria can cause many different infections.
The bacteria are commonly found in the throat and on the skin, and some people have no symptoms.
Infections caused by Strep A range from minor illnesses to serious and deadly diseases.
They include the skin infection impetigo, scarlet fever and strep throat.
While the vast majority of infections are relatively mild, sometimes the bacteria cause an illness called invasive Group A Streptococcal disease.
What is invasive Group A Streptococcal disease?
Invasive Group A Strep disease is sometimes a life-threatening infection in which the bacteria have invaded parts of the body, such as the blood, deep muscle or lungs.
Two of the most severe, but rare, forms of invasive disease are necrotising fasciitis and streptococcal toxic shock syndrome.
Necrotising fasciitis is also known as the ‘flesh-eating disease’ and can occur if a wound gets infected.
Streptococcal toxic shock syndrome is a rapidly progressing infection causing low blood pressure/shock and damage to organs such as the kidneys, liver and lungs.
This type of toxic shock has a high death rate.
READ MAILONLINE’S FULL Q&A ON STREP A.
In Colorado, health authorities say they have recorded two child deaths while 11 other youngsters have been hospitalized in the last month-and-a-half.
This has sparked concern at the local health authority, which normally only records one to two cases a month.
Children’s Hospital Colorado says it is treating more children aged 10 months to six years for Strep A than usual.
In Washington, doctors at Seattle Children’s say they had one teenager with Strep A who needed to be admitted to intensive care and put on a ventilator.
Dr Sara Vora, an infectious diseases expert at the hospital, told NBC: ‘We had a fairly sick teenager last week who came in with a kind of sepsis presentation and was in ICU on a ventilator for a few days and then had a fairly rapid recovery and is doing very well.
‘That’s probably the most severe case that I have seen.’
Doctors at Phoenix Children’s Hospital, Arizona, also reported an uptick but said the ‘absolute number [of patients] itself is not huge’.
Earlier this week doctors in West Virginia told DailyMail.com they were also seeing a rise in cases.
Dr Kathryn Moffet, from West Virginia University Medicine, said her hospital — the biggest in the state — has seen a sharp rise in the number of children presenting with Strep symptoms.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said it was ‘hearing anecdotes’ of a ‘possible increase in Strep A infections among children in the United States’.
Last week the agency claimed at a briefing that it was not seeing ‘any notable increase’ in Strep A infections nationwide.
In its latest report — for the year 2020 — the agency recorded 380 fatalities, of which only one was in a child under the age of 18 years.
The data only covers some counties in ten states — including areas of Colorado, New York, Oregon and Tennessee.
Children’s hospitals in California, New York, Illinois and Minnesota all said they have not seen an increase in invasive group strep A cases.
The UK has already logged up to five times more infections than during its last bad year, with 169 children under 14 years old diagnosed since September.
Health authorities in the country say the death toll this year is unusually high.
Raising the alarm over rising infections in Europe, the World Health Organization said only some countries report cases — meaning the uptick may be more widespread.
The WHO noted that the uptick comes after a ‘period of reduced incidence of infections’ during the pandemic.
Cases of Strep A usually peak during the winter months and early spring, with a surge in iGAS infections every three to four years.
But lockdowns, face masks and other pandemic restrictions have likely disrupted this cycle, experts fear.
Doctors warned DailyMail.com last week that the situation in the UK was likely just a precursor of what was to come for the US, with both countries having similar demographics and following a similar Covid trajectory.
Dr Kathryn Moffet, from West Virginia University Medicine, told DailyMail.com that like the UK ‘there is evidence American children have a vulnerability to bacterial infections’ this year.
Dr Andrew Pekosz, vice chair of molecular microbiology at Johns Hopkins University, added that he could not rule out a similar rise in the US.
He told DailyMail.com: ‘We’re not sure if we’re going to see a large Strep A outbreak here in the US. But it is important to note that virus infections can often lead to a bacterial infection.
‘And oftentimes severe disease is caused when you have that combination of a virus infection and a bacterial infection.
Like the UK, the US is also suffering a shortage of amoxicillin — a frontline child antibiotic used to treat Strep A.
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Read more at DailyMail.co.uk