– We are seeing more cases of group A strep this year than usual, says UKHSA Deputy Director Colin Brow.
851 cases of scarlet fever have been recorded in week 46 so far, health authorities say Web sites. In the previous year, the number was 186 cases.
In England, five children under the age of ten lost their lives to the disease in a seven-day period, they say. This is one more than the previous peak season in 2017 and 2018, when four deaths were recorded in one week, UKHSA says.
According to Sky News one death is also recorded in Wales.
– It is important for parents to be alert to symptoms and contact a doctor as soon as possible so that children can receive treatment and we can stop a serious infection. Contact a health care professional if your child shows signs of worsening after scarlet fever, a sore throat or a cold, says Brow.
The UKHSA points out that there is currently no indication that the winter outbreak results from a new mutation of streptococcal bacteria.
Possible covid effect
However, Sky News spoke to an expert who says less contact between children during the corona pandemic may have led to lower immunity to strep bacteria.
– It strikes me, just as we are seeing now with the flu, that less contact between children may have led to a decrease in immunity in the population which tends to prevent the spread, especially in school children, says microbiologist Simon Clarke of the University of Reading at Sky News.
Clarke points out that there is no direct link between the scarlet fever cases, but does not rule out that other cases will arise in the future.
