MEMPHIS, Tenn. — In addition to a spike in RSV, flu, and COVID cases, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says they are now investigating a surge in children with an invasive and sometimes deadly form of strep.
Group A streptococcus is the bacteria that causes strep throat and scarlet fever.
But in some kids, the bacteria spreads beyond the throat and into the lungs or into the bloodstream.
Several children’s hospitals across the country, including Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis, say they’ve detected increases.
“The only symptom she had was an extremely high fever, and she wasn’t eating,” Briana Garner of Memphis said.
After Garner’s six-year-old daughter developed a fever that wouldn’t go away with ibuprofen, she took her to the hospital.
“They tested her for COVID. They tested her for flu. They tested her for strep, and it came back positive. But she never complained about her throat being sore,” she said.
The CDC has issued a new warning about an increase in invasive infections of group A strep in children.
At least two kids in Colorado and 15 in the United Kingdom have died from the disease.
“The infections that we see with group A strep causing are things like muscular skeleton infections in children, bone joint and muscle, and we can see pneumonia,” Dr. Sandy Arnold, an infectious disease specialist at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital said. “Typically, it is a pretty severe type of pneumonia.”
Dr. Arnold said the hospital has already seen a few cases.
She said invasive strep A infections typically occur as a complication of respiratory viruses like the flu.
But, a national shortage of child antibiotics and antivirals means getting the drugs needed to treat symptoms has been a challenge.
“We do have a reduced amount of oral antibiotics available to us,” Dr. Arnold said. “We have not had difficulty treating any patients, but sometimes you do have to get a little creative and use different things than you normally would use.”
Garner said she’s not sure if her daughter had the invasive form of strep, but she said she is recovering.
But, she urges other parents to get their children tested if they start to feel sick, even if they don’t have typical symptoms.
“That’s usually one of the signs of strep throat is a sore throat. So if they’re not complaining about that, you’re not thinking it’s strep, and they are going out and spreading it,” she said.
While there is no vaccine for strep A, doctors say it’s important to make sure your kids are up to date with flu and chickenpox vaccinations.
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