The World Health Organisation has also pointed to increased mixing of people as a driver of scarlet fever and invasive group A streptococcus cases in France,Ireland,the Netherlands,Sweden and the UK in the second half of 2022.
Scarlet fever is common in primary-school aged children and is marked by a pinky-red rash that covers most of the body,a sore throat and high fever.
Dr Norelle Sherry,the deputy director of a Doherty Institute public health laboratory that conducts surveillance testing for invasive group A streptococcus,said cases dropped to about a third of their usual rate during the pandemic when Melbourne spent more than 260 days in lockdown.
However,she said that because invasive group A streptococcus only began having to be officially reported to the government from last year,it wasn’t clear if the many dozens of cases recently detected were higher than expected for a normal year,as had been the case in the UK.
A Victorian Health Department spokesman said authorities were “closely monitoring the situation regarding invasive group A strep in Victoria,following an increase in cases here and overseas”.
“While the overall risk of invasive group A strep for the general population remains low,young children,pregnant or postpartum women,and older people are at increased risk,” he said.
Infectious diseases physician Professor Allen Cheng said that group A streptococcus was associated with a host of different diseases,including skin infections and rheumatic fever.
“You may not get any symptoms at all. Kids often get what’s called strep throat,which is tonsillitis,and it’s generally not dangerous,” he said.
“If it invades the bloodstream,that’s when you get invasive group A strep,which is what we are worried about here. And then from the bloodstream,it can spread to other parts of the body.”
Signs of invasive streptococcal disease can include fevers or chills,dizziness,shortness of breath,a stiff neck,nausea and vomiting,a red skin infection which may have pus or ulceration,and abdominal pain.
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“We often talk about sort of floppy babies and flat children,that’s what we look for when kids are really sick,” Cheng said.
“That would be common to all severe infections … it could be meningococcal,but it could be things like group A strep.”
Group A streptococcus bacteria are usually transmitted via large respiratory droplets or direct contact with infected people or asymptomatic carriers,according to the health department.
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