One of Missouri’s largest children’s hospitals is seeing an influx of children with bizarre Strep A symptoms — as the outbreak continues to spread across the US.
Seven children have come to Children’s Mercy Kansas City Hospital in recent weeks with symptoms including a “sticky” eye, lump behind the ear and difficulty swallowing — resulting in drooling.
Doctors were initially confused by the cases, but further investigation revealed that each child had Strep A. The usually mild bacterial infection is causing a spate of hospitalizations in the US, UK and Europe.
Doctors in Missouri state that these are not typical symptoms of Strep A infection. Some experts fear that lockdowns have robbed children of immunity to common infections, making cases of Strep A and other infections more serious than usual.
So far, only two child deaths from Strep A have been confirmed during the outbreak — both in Colorado — but officials in six states have reported an increase in hospital admissions in recent weeks. Across the pond, 19 children died of the disease in Britain.
There are anecdotal reports from at least six hospitals across the US that Strep A cases are more common or more severe than usual this year. Two child deaths have been confirmed in Colorado as part of this outbreak. The CDC does not report real-time national Strep A data
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
Earlier this week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) acknowledged that school closings, mask orders, lockdowns and other pandemic orders may have contributed to the increased severity of Strep A this year.
Pandemic prevention measures such as covering up school closings may have contributed to the explosion in flu and RSV cases.
This in turn can cause more bacterial infections such as Strep A, which often occurs when the immune system is vulnerable after a viral infection.
“We just don’t see that much together in such a short time.” DR Angela Myers, director of infectious diseases at Children’s Mercy, told The Washington Post.
Typical symptoms of Strep A include a rash, fever, sore throat, flushed cheeks, muscle pain and skin sores.
While invasive cases of group A streptococci (iGAS) can present with other more severe symptoms, eye problems and drooling are not usually associated with the infection.
…but the good news is that America’s “triplemy” seems to have already peaked
RSV infections continue to decline “fairly rapidly.”
There are anecdotal reports from around the country of hospitals reporting more Strep A cases this year than in the past.
Local hospitals in Arizona, Colorado, Texas, Washington and West Virginia are also reporting sharp increases in cases compared to previous years.
At Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, doctors say they have seen a fourfold increase in cases to 60 this year compared to previous years.
Colorado Children’s Hospital in Denver recorded two deaths from Strep A last week, the first confirmed pediatric deaths from the disease this flu season.
State officials announced at a briefing Wednesday that the state has had 32 pediatric Strep A hospitalizations this year.
This is a fivefold increase from 2010 and a significant increase from the 19 reported in 2019 – the last year of data before the pandemic.
Doctors at Phoenix Children’s Hospital reported an uptick in cases to NBC last week.
About 14,000 to 25,000 Americans are infected and 1,500 to 2,300 die each year, according to the CDC. The vast majority of these deaths affect the elderly.
Cases are usually not known until mid-winter, but they hit particularly hard this year when the flu and RSV emerge.
However, the CDC does not track infections in the same way as viral diseases such as Covid, the flu and RSV, making real-time national infection and death rates unclear.
The agency said it was investigating Strep A last week after hearing about the surge from local doctors.
A spokesperson for the agency told DailyMail.com on Thursday that despite anecdotal reports, it is unclear whether the US actually has more Strep A cases than usual.
However, the severe flu season Americans are experiencing this year may lead to an increase in bacterial infections.
A combination of flu, RSV and Covid hit this country all at once – in a situation many experts call “triplemia”.
Peaks in annual respiratory viruses have reached such a point this year that earlier this month 80 percent of US hospital beds were occupied.
This is a higher point than ever during the Covid pandemic. Experts are calling it the worst flu season since the 2009 swine flu pandemic.
While flu infections peaked earlier this month with 43,960 confirmed weekly cases, the latest CDC data for the week ending Dec. 10 showed a 30 percent drop in cases to 31,287.
Cases of RSV are also declining, with the CDC reporting 4,391 infections last week. That’s down 63 percent from the previous week and the lowest total since late September.
Experts have blamed Covid-related restrictions and mandates for creating an “immune-naive” population as common viruses take hold.
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.
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].’
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.
The CDC, which has supported many of those mandates, went so far as to admit this week, saying, “Mitigation measures (eg, bacteria.”
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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.
