There are currently three times more cases of scarlet fever than usual, a senior health official said.
Latest figures show that at least 19 children have now died across the UK from invasive strep A disease.
Professor Susan Hopkins, chief medical adviser at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), said the vast majority of children affected had mild illness and an ‘open mind’ was maintained as to why. for which there was a spike in infections.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, she said: “The latest news about scarlet fever and strep A infections is that we’ve seen around just over 7,500 notifications of scarlet fever, and that’s is probably an underestimate.
“We have a lot of reports coming in the past few days so we expect it to be even higher.
“It’s about three times higher than at the same time in a normal season. The last bad season we had in 2017 and 18.
“And in invasive Group A strep cases, we’re over half of what we would normally see in an average season.
“We’ve seen 111 cases in children between the ages of one and four and 74 cases in children between the ages of five and nine.”
Invasive group A streptococcus (iGAS) is the most serious and unusual form of infection.
She said those numbers on the severe end are low, adding: “The vast majority of children have self-limiting or mild disease and are very well managed.”
Meanwhile, Prof Hopkins said the analysis shows that areas of the country where children received the nasal spray flu vaccine had fewer group A strep infections compared to areas of the country that had not yet started rolling out the vaccine.
She said influenza and other viral infections have a greater propensity to have a secondary bacterial infection on top of that, adding that children who normally get the flu are at greater risk of other later infections, including strep throat. group A.
“And so what we’ve done here is an analysis of looking at the rollout of the nasal spray flu vaccine, which is the vaccine given to children from the age of two, and what we can see here is in parts of the country where we administered the vaccine, there were fewer group A strep infections compared to parts of the country that had not yet started rolling out the vaccine,” he said. she stated.
All children aged two and three are eligible for a nasal spray flu vaccine, which is offered by GPs.
But only 37.4% of two-year-olds have received the vaccine so far, along with 39.5% of three-year-olds – well below the turnout achieved at this point in previous winters, according to the latest data.
Professor Hopkins said children under school age can get vaccinated through their GP, while children at school can get vaccinated through the school vaccination service.
“If you haven’t signed this school vaccine consent form yet, please do so, and if your child is pre-school age, please make an appointment with your GP,” she said.
Prog Hopkins was asked if it’s still known why there’s been a spike in scarlet fever and strep A infections and if it’s due to children’s immunity levels weakening after socializing less during the pandemic .
“We wouldn’t say we’re convinced of anything yet. I think we see this season much, much earlier,” she said.
“We have a lot of kids who haven’t had this infection in the last three years, so there are more susceptible kids who haven’t started to develop their immunity to this infection, which we’re getting at several times in our lifetime.
“Of course, we are always looking for other reasons. Has the bacteria changed? Are there any other changes that could have happened that are causing this? So while we think at the moment, the most likely explanation for everything we’ve looked at is that it’s related to a lack of exposure for a while, we’ll keep an open mind and look elsewhere.
It is understood health officials do not believe the number of scarlet fever infections has peaked yet, suggesting more deaths are likely.
Strep A infections such as scarlet fever and impetigo are treated with antibiotics, penicillin being one of the most commonly used.
Meanwhile, the government said five new severe shortage protocols (SSPs) had been published, having introduced SSPs for three penicillin drugs earlier this week.
SSPs give pharmacists the option of providing an alternative antibiotic or penicillin formulation.
Demand for penicillin has recently increased as it is used to treat strep A and scarlet fever, and this increased demand means that some pharmacists are experiencing temporary, localized supply issues and may not have the specific formulation listed on the prescription .
Symptoms of scarlet fever often resemble those of the flu, including a high temperature, sore throat, and swollen neck glands.
A rash appears 12 to 48 hours later, starting on the chest and stomach, then spreading.
A white coating also appears on the peeling tongue, leaving the tongue red, swollen and covered with small bumps (often called “strawberry tongue”).