Strep A infection

Posted on November 1st, 2022

You may have seen on the news stories about Strep A/Scarlet fever infection, here is some information about the infection and what to look for:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qf-lgDwO8fA

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/scarlet-fever/

https://sybhealthiertogether.nhs.uk/parentscarers/worried-your-child-unwell/scarlet-fever

Regarding people who have been in contact with somone with strep A infection, the advice changed from 19th December 2022

1)  When 1 or more members of the family have invasive strep A  to start the antibiotic within 24 hours but not beyond 10 days from when the first person got the infection

2) When  a mother and baby either develops invasive group A strep infection in the first 28 days of life.

3) Older household contacts aged over 75 years.

4) Individuals who develop chickenpox within 7 days prior to onset of the person testing positive for invasive group A strep infection or ongoing contact with person who had invasive group A strep infection.

It is not current advice that all school children who have been in a class with a pupil with strep A infection need to be given antibiotics, so please do not call the practice for an antibiotic prescription unless told to do so or if the child develops symptoms of infection.