THE HAGUE (ANP) – At least eighteen people contracted meningitis in the first three months of this year due to an infection with so-called group A streptococci. That is a “remarkably high number” according to the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) and the Dutch Reference Laboratory for Bacterial Meningitis (NRLBM), which belongs to the Amsterdam UMC.
Meningitis can be life-threatening. Other serious infections by the GAS bacteria are also still relatively common. That has been the case since last year.
Usually an infection with this type of bacteria is harmless. For example, GAS cause childhood diseases such as impetigo or scarlet fever. Patients become much sicker if the bacteria penetrates tissue, the bloodstream, the lungs or the meninges. Such an invasive infection can be life-threatening. Since last year, the number of problematic infections has been remarkably high, also in other European countries, without it being clear why.
Children
In 2022, at least 42 young children in the Netherlands became seriously ill from a GAS infection. Nine children died. This number is unchanged in the latest figures published by RIVM on Monday.
The total number of reports of invasive GAS infections was slightly lower in March than in February. This does not apply to necrotic fasciitis, in which infected tissue dies. This syndrome was reported a total of 23 times in March, compared to 16 times in February. Before 2022, this condition was rarer. Because of the risk of necrotic fasciitis, GAS is sometimes referred to as “the flesh-eating bacteria.”
Duty to report
Toxic shock syndrome due to group A streptococcal infection was reported 17 times in March. That is less often than in February, when 26 reports were received. Doctors also saw fewer patients with puerperal fever, another disease that can be caused by the bacteria. This number fell from 30 in February to 24 in March.
There has been a reporting obligation for these serious disorders for some time now. Since mid-January, doctors and laboratories have been obliged in many more cases to report GAS infections to the GGD, which in turn passes them on to RIVM. In March, 132 of these other reports were made, compared to 143 in February. It is still too early for conclusions, says a spokesman for the RIVM.
If an invasive GAS infection is reported, the GGD can prescribe antibiotics to the patient’s housemates as a precaution. If administered on time, this can prevent serious illness.
