Paediatric group A streptococcal disease in England: a primary care perspective

Shamez N Ladhani and colleagues 1 Ladhani SN Guy R Bhopal SS Brown CS Lamagni T Sharp A Paediatric group A streptococcal disease in England from October to December, 2022. Lancet Child Adolesc Health. 2023; 7: e2-e4 Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (15) Google Scholar detailed the current situation regarding paediatric group A streptococcal (GAS) disease in England through a public health lens. I offer two observations of the same situation from a front-line clinical perspective, acquired from my working in a primary care clinic dedicated to locally tackling the problem in an inner city in England. Paediatric group A streptococcal disease in England: a primary care perspective – Authors' replyWe read Richard Armitage's reflections on the UK response to the surge in group A streptococcal (GAS) disease in children and entirely agree that, in this challenging situation, there was a need for the public health response to balance important communications against the risk of deepening existing anxiety in parents and adding pressure on an already stretched health service. These types of public health decisions are not straightforward and were not taken lightly. In the face of surveillance showing high and escalating levels of GAS disease, including severe illness and death (appendix p 2), and increasing concern from clinicians and the public, the view of the multistakeholder team managing this incident was that a public and professional alert was necessary. Full-Text PDF Paediatric group A streptococcal disease in England from October to December, 2022Since October, 2022, England has been experiencing a national increase in group A streptococcal disease in children, including scarlet fever, pneumonia with empyema, and other invasive group A streptococcal disease presentations.1 Current seasonal rates are higher than would be expected for this time of the year when compared with disease incidence before the COVID-19 pandemic and has been associated with increased primary care consultations for pharyngitis and scarlet fever in children and adults across all English regions. Full-Text PDF