'Unusual surge' in potentially fatal Strep A, says HPSC
October 12 There A Streptococcus Among To 2022 Since 18 Have Children Among Group Disease Linked And Adults Deaths Been
Cases of potentially fatal invasive Group A Streptococcus (iGAS) disease are 4.5 times higher than expected this year with young children particularly affected, the Health Protection Surveillance Centre said.
This unusual surge may be linked to ongoing impacts from pandemic disruption to normal disease patterns and is being seen across Europe, the HPSC said.
There have been 12 deaths among children and 18 among adults since October 2022 linked to iGAS.
In December, a young girl from Glanmire in Cork died from this rare form of the bacterial infection Strep A. Large crowds attended Saoirse O’Sullivan’s funeral in Riverstown.
This year the HPSC found: "Data from 2023 indicate that the number of iGAS cases are 4.5-times higher than expected, with 354 cases notified in the first six months of the year compared with an average of 78 cases for the equivalent period during the pre-pandemic years of 2017-2019."
Overall, between October 2022 and August 26 this year, 480 cases of iGAS were notified.
Some 39% or 189 were among children aged under 18, and most of the children, at 166 cases, were under nine years of age.
The HPSC said this contrasts with pre-pandemic years when around 25% of infections were among under-18s.
“Among cases notified since October 2022, there have been 12 deaths in children (10 in children aged under 10 years old and two in children aged 10-17 years) and 18 in adults (age range, 46-96 years),” the report also shows.
Infections with iGAS in Ireland usually peak during the first half of the year, the HPSC said, noting last year was the first time a peak was reported outside of those typical months.
“This may, in part, be explained as being as a consequence of the covid-19 pandemic when normal social mixing patterns were interrupted leading to changes in transmission of diseases such as iGAS,” they said.
The report also notes the HPSC updated their definition of iGAS in December, saying for this year "the new case definition has resulted in an additional 19% of cases being reported that would not have been classified as iGAS by the previous case definition."
The parents of a 10-year Cork girl who died following invasive Group A Strep infection have recently called for parents to be more aware of the illness.
Vivienne Murphy, from Millstreet in north Cork, died on March 1, 2019 having been complaining of feeling unwell and having a sore throat.
Following her inquest in April this year, her mother, Lilly urged parents: "If your child has a fever, or a rash, be vigilant, these things can change so quickly. Our daughter started off with signs and symptoms and within 10 days she was gone.”
Lilly and her husband Dermot also told RTÉ they would like to see an intensive care unit for children in Cork, as their daughter had to be transferred to Dublin for emergency surgery.
Vivienne's inquest found she died from Group A streptococcal septicaemia with necrotising fasciitis (known colloquially as 'flesh-eating disease').
The HSE advises that in general Strep A (Group A streptococcus) is a common bacteria leading to mild illnesses such as sore throats.
It can be passed on through coughs and sneezes, or from a wound. In rare cases, they said these bacteria can cause “a severe and life-threatening illness” (iGAS) leading to sepsis and other conditions.
Symptoms of iGAS can include extremely high temperature, muscle aches, redness at a wound, dizziness or a flat red rash.
Higher than usual rates of iGAS infections have also been seen in Denmark, France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
The latest iGAS update from the UK Health Security Agency indicated: "notifications are slightly higher than we would expect at this time of year and remain relatively high in children compared to what we typically see".