Four more children in England have died from invasive Strep A, the UK Health Security Agency has confirmed.
There have been 151 cases of invasive Strep A in children aged one to four so far this season, compared to 194 cases in that age group across the whole year of the last comparably high season in 2017 to 2018, the Mirror reports. There have been 102 cases in children aged five to nine years, compared to 117 across 2017 to 2018. Across all age groups, there have been 122 deaths in England.
Dr Obaghe Edeghere, UKHSA incident director, said: "We are continuing to see a rise in scarlet fever and ‘strep throat’ and this is understandably concerning for parents. However I would stress that the condition can be easily treated with antibiotics and it is very rare that a child will go on to become more seriously ill.