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In the past year, more children have had a severe group A strep infection. Since the beginning of 2022, more children have been hospitalized with this infection. This is what emerges from a research by the Juliana Children’s Hospital together with six other hospitals.
The number of children affected by the disease is also increasing in France, Ireland, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
More children with strep infection
In the second quarter of 2022, 28 children were hospitalized with a group A streptococcus infection, the so-called GAS bacterium. There were nine in 2019 and two in 2018. Of the 61 children who were admitted to one of the seven hospitals participating in the study after the corona pandemic, five children did not survive. Surprisingly many, according to hospitals. Serious infections have occurred mainly in children under five years of age. This was less possible during the time they had to strengthen their immune system, because we were still in a corona pandemic at the time. Previously it was thought that the number of infections would decrease in the summer, but this has not happened. Why more children now have a strep infection is being further investigated.
Children sometimes seriously ill
An infection with the GAS bacteria may be harmless. For example, it causes sore throat, tonsillitis, impetigo, scarlet fever or erysipelas. In very rare cases, the bacteria penetrate deeper into the body and the disease progresses more seriously. The skin, muscles, bones, heart, kidneys, brain and meninges can then become inflamed. “An infection can go from mild to very severe in a day,” says pediatric infectious disease immunologist Michiel van der Flier. The conditional. If so, it’s important to start antibiotics as soon as possible. In milder cases, antibiotics aren’t always necessary. Group A streptococci are transmitted by droplets released when talking, coughing and sneezing or by (in)direct contact.
Read also: “Every mother should know about this bacterium”
Link with other diseases
Although a strep infection is usually mild, it can be life-threatening. Pediatrician Mirjam van Veen of Juliana Children’s Hospital often sees a link between severe infections and other illnesses. For example, the infection is more common in children with chickenpox because group A strep can enter the skin more easily through blisters. An infection can also be more serious when combined with the flu. Van Veen advises parents to be very careful. “If a child gets sick again after chickenpox or develops inflammation of the skin, then that’s something to watch out for,” she says. NO. “Fortunately, most children with fevers have a harmless infection.” Does your child have a fever? You read here what you should pay attention to.
Bron: NO, The conditional, Thuisarts
