Plenty of parents are beside themselves with worry right now as strep A continues to dominate the news.
Reports suggest 15 children have now died from the infection, with schools minister Nick Gibb suggesting antibiotics could be rolled out in schools to prevent more severe illness.
At the same time, some pharmacists are warning of a shortage of antibiotics – which hasn’t done much to quell concerns.
On social media and in private Whatsapp groups there’s been an outpouring of worry from parents, who are understandably on edge in case they miss the signs of illness that could progress to something far worse.
Some are considering whether they need to pull their kids out of childcare and school, while others are worried about whether their children need to see a doctor or not for symptoms that are linked to a whole host of illnesses.
“I’m personally more worried about this than I was when Covid started,” says 35-year-old Emma Hawes from Wigan.
Hawes, who has a 13-year-old and eight-year-old, tells HuffPost UK: “I am extremely anxious at the moment. I had no idea what the symptoms were so I’ve obviously been reading as much as I can.”
Her eight-year-old is currently ill with cold-like symptoms, which panicked her at first, but she’s realised from her research it isn’t Strep A.
“But there has been a case in the area which terrifies me,” she says. “And I don’t know if my worries are justified, or if it’s just being exaggerated because it’s in the news.”
She adds that if things get worse, she wouldn’t rule pulling her kids out of school to keep them safe.
Diana Wilkinson, 45, has two children of primary school age. She tells HuffPost UK: “I’m genuinely so worried about it. Every time I see the news it’s full of warnings of Strep A, and horrifically the number of fatalities is rising.
“Our school has been great at flagging concerns and sending out information about what to look out for, but with several cases already it feels very close to home.”
One of her children developed a rash last night which sent anxiety levels soaring even further – “but after checking and rechecking the symptoms we decided against taking her to A&E and it seems to have faded now,” adds the mum, who’s based in north London.
“The news keeps stressing that it can appear very quickly and children are getting sick, so it’s hard to work out whether we’re being over-protective and paranoid, or whether our concerns are valid.”
For those with babies and young toddlers – who are constantly down with some bug or other – it’s a troubling time, especially as young children can’t verbalise if they feel unwell or certain parts of their bodies are sore.
As a result, one pregnant mum, whose daughter is 14 months old, said in a parenting Facebook group they’re going to “stay home and avoid playgroups for the time being” because “it’s just not worth the risk”.
Others have been taking to social media to ask for advice on symptoms. One fraught mum said her six-month-old came out in a rash recently. “It went away within 24 hours. But with everything going round with Strep A should I be worried?” she asked. “This was at the start of the week. She never had a fever and she is fine in herself. Maybe I am just overthinking.”
Another wrote: “This whole Strep A outbreak is scaring the life out of me. I’ve read of some of the symptoms to watch out for such as sore throat, headache etc., but how do I know if my eight-month-old has a sore throat or headache?”
“It’s really scared me as well,” said another mum. “My little one isn’t well at all at the moment. She has threw up once and has a fever. I can’t check her mouth as she physically won’t let me. She’s 11 months old.”
Strep A is a type of bacteria which can cause a range of respiratory and skin infections such as tonsillitis, pharyngitis, scarlet fever and impetigo.
According to the NHS, symptoms parents should watch out for include: pain when swallowing, fever, swollen tonsils with white patches, swollen neck glands, a high temperature and a fine, pinkish or red skin rash.
On darker skin, the rash can be more difficult to detect visually but will have a sandpapery feel.
But some of these symptoms – particularly fever – are associated with other illnesses doing the rounds at the moment including RSV, flu and even Covid-19.
As a result, GP surgeries are facing a surge of calls from worried parents who are rightly concerned about their sick children and whether they need antibiotics.
One doctor took to Twitter to explain how roughly 80% of their out of hours consultations were for parents concerned about Strep A. “This is going to add to the already high winter demand we are seeing,” said Dr Selvaseelan Selvarajah.
While Strep A is quite common among children – and more often than not, kids recover – the most serious infections come from something called invasive group A strep, known as iGAS.
These infections are caused by the bacteria getting into parts of the body where it is not normally found, such as the lungs or bloodstream – and as we now know, in rare cases it can be fatal.
iGAS infections are uncommon, but there has been an increase in cases this year, according to the UK Health and Security Agency, particularly in children under 10.
It can happen when a person has: sores or open wounds that allow the bacteria to get into the tissue, breaches in their respiratory tract after a viral illness, or a health condition that decreases their immunity to infection.
Medical experts are urging parents not to worry too much about iGAS – but, as any parent will attest, that’s easier said than done.
Since September, there have been 4,622 diagnoses of scarlet fever in England, and 509 notifications of iGAS disease.
Dr Elizabeth Whittaker, an expert in paediatric infectious diseases at Imperial College London, said: “Tragically, when there are high numbers of infections, the severe cases will also occur. We are seeing more pneumonia than usual, most likely as group A strep infections are coinciding with the peak in winter respiratory viruses which are typical for this time of year.
“Severe invasive group A Strep is rare, and parents don’t need to worry, but do need to be aware when and how to seek medical attention.
“We would normally expect fevers due to viral infections to settle within 4/5 days, so if they are persisting, or are associated with lethargy, difficultly breathing, poor drinking or wet nappies/urine output, families should get in touch with NHS111 for advice.”
There isn’t a vaccine for Strep A, but all experts agree it does usually respond well to antibiotics like penicillin.
To prevent illnesses like Strep A, it’s important to get your child to wash their hands regularly and encourage them to catch coughs and sneezes in tissues, which should then be binned.