[arista]

[A fourth primary school pupil in the UK
has died of Strep A bacterial infection
Muhammad Ibrahim Ali, four, died after
suffering cardiac arrest in November
The news comes after two primary school
pupils died in the last three weeks*
Friends and family today paid tribute
to Hanna Roap, 7, a pupil from Wales]



https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...s-schools.html

Sad news for the parents.

[Soldier Boy]

Both of my kids have had Scarlet Fever - my eldest in 2018 and my youngest in 2019. Thankfully caught both early with antibiotics and no complications - however my eldest was the "illest" I've seen either of them so far when she had it. Lost a load of weight and very pale (chalk white as opposed to any variety of scarlet!)/big dark circles under her eyes for weeks. Not a pleasant thing to experience as a parent.

[arista]

Originally Posted by Soldier Boy

Both of my kids have had Scarlet Fever - my eldest in 2018 and my youngest in 2019. Thankfully caught both early with antibiotics and no complications - however my eldest was the "illest" I've seen either of them so far when she had it. Lost a load of weight and very pale (chalk white as opposed to any variety of scarlet!)/big dark circles under her eyes for weeks. Not a pleasant thing to experience as a parent.

Thats good.

[arista]

BBC London News says 6 kids have sadly Died.

[Zizu]

Originally Posted by arista

BBC London News says 6 kids have sadly Died.

So expert saying to keep an eye on poorly kids .. it presents as flu-like but if a red rash appears on the chest / arms get them medical assistance immediately.. early antibiotics are crucial


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[rusticgal]

Originally Posted by Soldier Boy

Both of my kids have had Scarlet Fever - my eldest in 2018 and my youngest in 2019. Thankfully caught both early with antibiotics and no complications - however my eldest was the "illest" I've seen either of them so far when she had it. Lost a load of weight and very pale (chalk white as opposed to any variety of scarlet!)/big dark circles under her eyes for weeks. Not a pleasant thing to experience as a parent.

Scarlet fever is certainly going around everywhere…

[Cherie]

Originally Posted by Zizu

So expert saying to keep an eye on poorly kids .. it presents as flu-like but if a red rash appears on the chest / arms get them medical assistance immediately.. early antibiotics are crucial


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Or a strawberry tongue

[arista]

[Soldier Boy]

Originally Posted by Cherie

Or a strawberry tongue

Yep that was the main symptom for my eldest that prompted the doctor visit - REALLY strange looking - she didn't even feel ill at that point which is why it was caught so early, but she got very ill for about 7 or 8 days.

Youngest it was big bright red cheeks. She was fine with it though unlike eldest, not very ill, the main challenge was getting antibiotics into her. Went through about 5 jars of nutella.

[arista]

[arista]

[Mystic Mock]

Hopefully it'll be under control soon.

A shame for the parents that lost their kids though.

[arista]

This is an immunity problem,
due to kids not mixing during Covid-19.


And worse some younger doctors are not
aware of the signs of this killer

[Soldier Boy]

Originally Posted by arista

This is an immunity problem,
due to kids not mixing during Covid-19.


And worse some younger doctors are not
aware of the signs of this killer

Well it's a combo of the two really. Strep is a common infection, it's just rare (these days) for it to be serious because of early exposure and immunity. Kids lived in a bubble through covid and some of that natural immunity has been compromised for some.

Doctors know what a strep infection looks like, it's just that they don't expect it to progress to something more serious and it can progress quickly.

It may just be coming back a bit non-covid related though - my eldest having scarlet fever it was pre-covid and the GP was quite surprised by it back then - quite an experienced doctor and he commented that it was only his second time diagnosing scarlet fever.

It's quite a hefty (long) dose of antibiotics but knocks it out quite quickly, there were only a few more days of symptoms from starting the antibiotics but the full course was I think 10 days. The risk is not getting started on antibiotics quickly enough and sepsis setting in. Hopefully the awareness campaign will make parents, doctors, teachers etc. more vigilant about prescribing quickly and stop there from being more deaths.

[arista]

BBC text
[Penicillin or alternative antibiotics
could be given to all children in
primary schools where there has been
a case of Strep A, the i reports.
The paper says entire groups can be treated,
as a preventative measure, even if the children
are not showing any symptoms.]

[arista]

[arista]

[arista]

The total of 15 kids
now have sadly, died.

https://news.sky.com/story/strep-a-d...ss-uk-12764165

[Strictly Jake]

Genuinely getting a bit stressed by this. My son has just recovered from hand foot and mouth disease too. There's a lot of weird stuff going around. Think it's because this is sort of how COVID started with its initial spread numbers started low then went to high numbers quickly. Prob don't need to be worried but I am

[Cherie]

Originally Posted by Strictly Jake

Genuinely getting a bit stressed by this. My son has just recovered from hand foot and mouth disease too. There's a lot of weird stuff going around. Think it's because this is sort of how COVID started with its initial spread numbers started low then went to high numbers quickly. Prob don't need to be worried but I am

Just familiarise yourself with the symptoms Jake and try not to worry

https://www.publichealth.hscni.net/n...ns-group-strep

[arista]

Great Link to post
Cherie.

[Soldier Boy]

For me the concerning thing is not the strep itself - if you know what you're looking for and get the antibiotics in good time, there's no real issue.

The concerning thing is the reported shortage of antibiotics and people - for want of a better term - "panic buying" (or "panic prescribing") them. There is apparently a looming antibiotics shortage... and that is when it starts to be worrying. These infections can be fought effectively with antibiotics, but you do NEED the antibiotics, there's a reason that "Scarlet Fever" was a very scary thing to hear before penicillin.

[hijaxers]

Originally Posted by Soldier Boy

For me the concerning thing is not the strep itself - if you know what you're looking for and get the antibiotics in good time, there's no real issue.

The concerning thing is the reported shortage of antibiotics and people - for want of a better term - "panic buying" (or "panic prescribing") them. There is apparently a looming antibiotics shortage... and that is when it starts to be worrying. These infections can be fought effectively with antibiotics, but you do NEED the antibiotics, there's a reason that "Scarlet Fever" was a very scary thing to hear before penicillin.

I had Scarlet fever when i was in junior school ~ i was off school for 3 wks and it was horrible.

I heard this morning that there is a shortage of the liquid type suitable for smaller children, which is concerning, i think most are aware of thee symptoms now andd keeping an eye out.

Very sad Christmas for all the parents who have lost a child.

[arista]

Originally Posted by Soldier Boy

For me the concerning thing is not the strep itself - if you know what you're looking for and get the antibiotics in good time, there's no real issue.

The concerning thing is the reported shortage of antibiotics and people - for want of a better term - "panic buying" (or "panic prescribing") them. There is apparently a looming antibiotics shortage... and that is when it starts to be worrying. These infections can be fought effectively with antibiotics, but you do NEED the antibiotics, there's a reason that "Scarlet Fever" was a very scary thing to hear before penicillin.

Not of the Tablet form
but the Liquid Form is now in short supply,
of course the liquid form is easier to use with
young children.

Ref: GMBHD itv Live report.

[Soldier Boy]

Originally Posted by arista

Not of the Tablet form
but the Liquid Form is now in short supply,
of course the liquid form is easier to use with
young children.

Ref: GMBHD itv Live report.

From experience, the easiest antibiotic to get into a kid is capsule form, broken open and stirred into a little bowl of nutella, golden syrup and icing sugar. Turns into a sort of nutella fudge. Job done.