A 12-year-old boy attending a school in London was the latest victim of Strep A. Meanwhile, Camila Rose Burns, four, is on a ventilator in Liverpool, fighting for her life.
Thousands of parents are now considering pulling their children out of school, as parents and GPs are told to be to be extra vigilant if their children fall ill.
Health chiefs issued an ‘urgent public health message’ to GPs after a 12-year-old boy attending a school in London became the latest victim.
The warning from the UK Health Security Agency has urged doctors to set a ‘low threshold’ for sending children with symptoms to hospital and giving them antibiotics.
It has been issued to all doctors, urgent care centres, A&Es and paediatric and infectious disease services, The Times reports.
There have been 2.3 cases of Strep A per 100,000 children aged between one and four so far this year – more than quadruple the average of 0.5 each season before the pandemic.
“It  is really important to be vigilant because in the very rare circumstance that it becomes serious then it needs urgent treatment,’ the Tory party chairman told Sky News’ Sophy Ridge on Sunday.
“It is highly infectious, which is why the important message to get across is parents should look out for the symptoms – so fever, headache, skin rash,” Ridge concluded.
The latest victim is reported to have been a Year 8 pupil at fee-paying Colfe’s School in Lewisham, south-east London. He is the first secondary school pupil to die in the current outbreak.
Parents are now urged to contact NHS 111 or their GP if children with symptoms worsen, start eating less, or show signs of dehydration.
