US & UK Health Agencies Warn About Increase in Strep Infections Among Children

While the CDC urged parents in the US to learn about the symptoms of invasive group A strep infections such as necrotizing fasciitis and streptococcal toxic shock syndrome, the UK Health Security Agency noted a rising number of scarlet fever cases in Britain.

US health authorities have moved to investigate a possible upsurge in streptococcal infections among the country’s youth.

According to the information shared on the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website earlier this month, the agency is “looking into a possible increase in invasive group A strep (iGAS) infections among children in the United States.”

The infections include necrotizing fasciitis and streptococcal toxic shock syndrome.

The CDC advised parents to read up about the symptoms of these infections and to quickly seek medical care for their children in case of a suspected infection, while healthcare providers were told to notify their local or state health department in case of “unusually aggressive or severe iGAS infections among children or potential increases or clusters of iGAS infections.”

Meanwhile, the UK Health Security Agency reported a similar development in December, noting “relatively high rates of iGAS in children” and pointing at an unusually elevated number of cases of a particular type of such infection: scarlet fever.

“Clinicians should continue to be alert to the severe complications of GAS and maintain a high degree of clinical suspicion when assessing patients, particularly those with preceding viral infection (including chickenpox) or close contacts of scarlet fever,” the agency warned.