Two children and an adult recently died in France from invasive group A streptococcal infections. What is this bacterium? What diseases does it cause?
An unusual increase in the number of cases linked to different bacterial strains, and probably not due to a single, more virulent strain. And no link between the many cases reported over the past fortnight, particularly in OccitaniaAuvergne-Rhône-Alpes and New Aquitaine.
This is, in essence, the inventory drawn up by the General Directorate of Health (DGS), following several cases of invasive group A streptococcal infections, which to date have caused the deaths of two children and of an adult. France is not the only one concerned: the United Kingdom also deplores at least six deaths of children as a result of this type of infection.
Angina, scarlet fever…
These bacteria are responsible for frequent and usually mild infections. These can affect skin tissue or the throat, as in the case of angina or scarlet fever, of which angina is the first symptom. To confirm the bacterial origin of these sore throats accompanied by difficulty swallowing, swollen glands and fever, doctors are, in the current context, invited to perform Rapid Diagnostic Orientation Tests (TROD) .
If the bacterial origin is confirmed, amoxicillin is the first-line treatment in order to prevent the infection from degenerating into “more severe and sometimes resuscitative forms, constituting toxic shock syndrome”, indicates the DGS. Streptococcal toxic shock is “characterized by the sudden onset of fever and other febrile symptoms, pain, multisystem organ involvement and possibly leading to coma, shock and death”, describes Orphanet, the portal rare diseases.
Antibiotic treatment
Hence the importance of rapid treatment, in a context of an increase in invasive infections over the past twenty years, according to data from the Institut Pasteur, and tensions in the supply of amoxicillin. To deal with it, “a referral to learned societies is underway to specify the recommendations for the management of cases and contact persons”, indicates the DGS.
In the meantime, and while no vaccine is available to protect against a group A streptococcal infection, the application of barrier gestures is recommended, starting with the wearing of a mask. The bacteria is mainly spread by inhaling droplets of secretions from the nose or throat, dispersed when an infected person coughs or sneezes. After 24 hours of antibiotic treatment, the infected person can no longer transmit the bacteria, according to the leading medical journal MSD Manuals.