[ad_1]
An early start to the strep infection season in the UK could be an effect of the Covid-19 pandemic, a senior health official has said.
At least six children have died from strep A infections since September, prompting the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) to issue a rare warning on Friday evening. On Monday, its chief medical adviser warned that infections were significantly higher than previously seen at this time of year.
“First of all, I think we’re seeing a lot of viral infections going around at the moment and these bacterial infections may come on top. “Secondly, we’re back to normal social mixing and the diseases we’ve been seeing in recent months are not synchronized with the normal seasons because people normally mix and move around and pass infections,” Dr Susan Hopkins told the BBC on Monday. said on Radio 4’s Today programme.
“We also need to recognize that the measures we have taken over the last few years to reduce the circulation of Covid will also reduce other infections. And so that means that, as things get back to normal, this traditional contagion that we’ve seen for many years spreads to a great extent.
Asked if this was due to lower-than-usual immunity levels due to Covid measures, she said: “That is one of the possible areas we are looking into. We expect that a certain number of children will have these infections each year and, therefore, their level of immunity. So we’re seeing more now than we’ve seen in the last two years where there was a very low rate of infection.
Hopkins came as a worried father told the same program that his daughter was fighting for her life. Dean Burns, whose daughter Camilla Rose is on a ventilator at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool, said: “She’s really weak, it’s devastating for us as a family.”
Camilla, four, felt “a bit under the weather on Saturday” from dancing with her friends on Friday night and needed emergency care by Monday.
Strep A can cause a variety of health problems, including skin infections, strep throat, and scarlet fever. Most infections are relatively mild, but the bacteria can cause a life-threatening illness called invasive group A streptococcal (iGAS) disease.
Hopkins told TODAY that parents should be on the lookout for sore throats and fevers that don’t go away with the usual painkilling treatments.
“Scarlet fever is characterized by rashes and [it] Not like a typical viral rash. It feels like sandpaper on the skin [if] If the baby’s skin looks sandpaper-rough instead of the usual slightly pinkish color, it is concerning and could be scarlet fever.
“Another thing is to watch their tongues. Again, in scarlet fever, we describe what is called strawberry tongue, where it has a little white coating on it, and it looks like a strawberry is bright red. It’s a warning sign that parents should watch out for.”
She added that unusual lethargy, dehydration and not needing the toilet as usual were also particularly concerning symptoms.
[ad_2]
Source link
