Top health officials in the US have finally admitted that the pandemic restrictions they support may have led to an explosion of respiratory problems currently overwhelming hospitals.
Health systems across the country have been stretched to the limit after an unusually high number of flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) cases, with some children’s wards forced to set up inflatable tents to treat patients in car parks.
There are signs that both viruses may have already peaked, but last week the country was dealt another blow when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said it was investigating an increase in severe Strep A infections – a normally harmless bacterial infection that has killed more than a dozen children in the UK and is on the rise across Europe.
In a statement to DailyMail.com, the CDC said it had “heard from some doctors and public health officials about a significant increase in iGAS infections in children in parts of the United States and is investigating this increase.”
In a marked shift in rhetoric, the agency added: “Like many infections during the COVID-19 pandemic, iGAS infections have dropped significantly.
“Mitigation measures (e.g. school and workplace closures, masking) taken in the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic have helped limit the spread of many viruses and bacteria.”
This map shows where in the US an increase in Strep A infections has been reported so far. Texas Children’s Hospital, the largest in the nation, says it is treating four times more patients with childhood strep A than it did last year. The CDC confirmed only “anecdotal reports” of increasing infections in the US
Two children have died from Strep A and five states have FOUR TIMES the number of cases
At least two children have died in Colorado after suffering from the usually mild illness, and children’s hospitals in five states — Arizona, Colorado, Texas, Washington and West Virginia — are reporting far more admissions than usual.
The GGD says it is not clear whether there will be more infections this year than last year, or whether the wave will hit America earlier than usual.
Immune naivety has contributed to the outbreak of “tripleemia” in the US this year, with RSV and influenza breaking out alongside Covid this winter.
Bacterial infections such as Strep A often occur after viral illnesses because a person’s immune system is exhausted and cannot fight the bacteria as effectively.
There were alarms that Strep A infections could be deadlier this year than last year, after a spate of severe cases in the UK caused 19 deaths, an unusually high number.
It is generally a mild disease that is most dangerous for the elderly. About 14,000 to 25,000 Americans are infected and 1,500 to 2,300 die each year, according to the CDC.
At least two children have died from Strep A in Colorado in recent weeks, raising fears that the US is facing a similar pediatric outbreak to the UK.
In another troubling sign, doctors in Arizona, Colorado, Texas, Washington and West Virginia are also reporting increases in serious Strep A infections this year.
However, the CDC does not track infections in the same way as viral diseases such as Covid, the flu and RSV, which obscures national infection and death rates.
Symptoms of Strep A include skin rash and sores all over the body, flushed cheeks, sore throat, muscle aches and fever. It is a relatively mild disease that does not cause many infant deaths each year
Dr. Kathryn Moffet, a pediatric infectious disease expert at West Virginia University Medicine in Morgantown, told DailyMail.com her hospital is seeing more cases than usual.
Her hospital, the largest in the state, saw more children with walking symptoms than usual in early December than in the usual year.
She blamed the abnormal flu patterns in previous years — where viruses like flu and RSV barely circulated.
“We have interrupted our virus transmission. We didn’t have the normal ones [circulation] where you would expect RSV and pneumonia [in young children]’ she told DailyMail.com.
“A lot of what we’ve done with social distancing and masks [caused this].’
At Texas Children’s Hospital, the state’s largest children’s hospital in Houston, doctors are reporting a fourfold increase in strep infections this year compared to pre-Covid levels.
Doctors at Phoenix Children’s Hospital reported an uptick in cases to NBC last week.
At Children’s Hospital Colorado, officials reported that more children between the ages of 10 months and six years were hospitalized for Strep A complications than usual.
The situation is exacerbated by a shortage of amoxicillin currently affecting the country.
The antibiotic is commonly used by young children who are sick with illnesses such as flu and RSV to prevent bacterial infections from developing soon after.
Supply chain problems and a surge in demand from an unusually brutal flu season have left the drug in short supply in the US.
There is hope that America’s unrelenting flu season, described by some experts as the worst since the 2009 swine flu pandemic, may soon ease.
The CDC reported 31,287 confirmed flu infections in the week ending Dec. 10 — a 30 percent decrease from the previous week.
RSV cases also continued their sharp decline, with 4,391 cases recorded, down 63 percent from the previous week – and the lowest level since late September.
Covid begins to rise again as annual burden drops The US recorded 65,550 daily infections last week, up 26 percent over the past two weeks.
The number of deaths has also risen by 63 percent to 408 per day in the past two weeks.
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Crystal Leahy is an author and health journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a background in health and wellness, Crystal has a passion for helping people live their best lives through healthy habits and lifestyles.
