A mum is urging parents to get their child to A&E if they think they might have a potentially deadly infection after watching her son battle Strep A in hospital. Little George Higham's mother, Jenna, shared a heart-wrenching snap of her son in hospital in Grimsby as a warning to others about the the infection that has killed six children since September.
The NHS says you should contact your GP or get medical advice straight away if you think you have any of the signs and symptoms of invasive disease. It also says you should tell your doctor if you have been in contact with someone who has had Group A Strep recently.
Jenna, 24, from Sutton on Sea, Lincolnshire, claims her GP misdiagnosed her son’s symptoms earlier this year as thrush, but she was sure he needed hospital treatment and phoned 111. George was diagnosed with Group A Strep infection, and recalling last August’s drama at Grimsby Hospital, Jenna told the Mirror: “It was such a frightening time.
“He developed a heart murmur because he was so ill and he was screaming in agony from the pains in his legs. They couldn’t get a drip in him because he was thrashing about so much, so he was given intramuscular antibiotics.”
George made a full recovery, but Jenna said: “His screams will always haunt me. I am just so thankful he made it through.
“I was in tears when I heard about the children who didn’t make it. If George had passed away, I can’t think about it, it really upsets me.”
Among the children to die was Muhammad Ibrahim Ali, four, from High Wycombe, Bucks, who died in the back of an ambulance. Hanna Roap, 7, tragically died after contracting Strep A.
Health chiefs say rates are up to five times higher than before Covid and fear the rise may be due to lower child immunity due to lockdowns.
This weekend mum Laura Rooney - whose daughter Farrah "doesn't even look like herself anymore" due to Strep A - has also urged parents to be vigilant for signs of the deadly disease. She said: "She was having fever-like symptoms, persistent coughs and a sore throat.
"She's just been so consistently unwell from it, we are on our fifth antibiotic from September and she's on steroids now as well.
"She has missed out on so much with school and the nursery and having to stay indoors, it has affected every part of our lives."
Locations of the cases in the past week are:
- Croydon, London - 1
- Ealing, London - 1
- Knowsley, Merseyside - 1
- North Somerset - 1
- Oldham, Greater Manchester - 1
- Redcar and Cleveland - 1
- Rushmoor, Hampshire - 1
- The Vale of Glamorgan - 1
It comes amid a wave of scarlet fever cases across the country. In extremely rare cases the bacteria that causes that can get into the bloodstream and lead to Group A Strep.
Here is a breakdown of the number of scarlet fever of cases in each region:
England and Wales total - 861
North East total - 34
- Tyne and Wear - 8
- County Durham - 10
- Middlesbrough - 6
- Northumberland - 5
- Redcar and Cleveland - 5
North West total - 137
- Cumbria - 16
- Greater Manchester - 27
- Lancashire - 27
- Merseyside - 32
- Blackburn with Darwen - 4
- Blackpool - 3
- Cheshire East - 12
- Cheshire West and Chester - 8
- Halton - 8
- Warrington - 5
Yorkshire and the Humber total - 46
- South Yorkshire - 4
- West Yorkshire - 25
- North Yorkshire - 8
- Kingston upon Hull - 1
- North East Lincolnshire - 2
- North Lincolnshire - 2
- York - 4
East Midlands total - 124
- Derbyshire - 24
- Leicestershire - 22
- Lincolnshire - 16
- Northamptonshire - 17
- Nottinghamshire - 20
- Derby - 2
- Leicester - 16
- Nottingham - 6
- Rutland - 1
West Midlands total - 48
- West Midlands - 15
- Staffordshire - 8
- Warwickshire - 12
- Worcestershire - 6
- County of Herefordshire - 5
- Stoke-on-Trent - 2
East of England total - 128
- Cambridgeshire - 14
- Essex - 15
- Norfolk - 22
- Hertfordshire - 33
- Suffolk - 19
- Bedford - 3
- Central Bedfordshire - 5
- Luton - 2
- Milton Keynes - 8
- Peterborough - 3
- Thurrock - 4
London total - 103
- Inner London - 44
- Outer London - 59
South East total - 134
- Buckinghamshire - 5
- East Sussex - 7
- Hampshire - 25
- Kent - 9
- Oxfordshire - 11
- Surrey - 20
- West Sussex - 10
- Bracknell Forest - 1
- Isle of Wight - 22
- Newbury - 1
- Portsmouth - 5
- Reading - 1
- Slough - 4
- Southampton - 1
- West Berkshire - 2
South West total - 5
- Devon - 1
- Gloucestershire - 2
- Somerset - 1
- Bournemouth - 1
Wales total - 101
Strep A signs - call 999 or go straight to hospital if you see these:
Your child eating much less than normal, a dry nappy for 12 hours or more and other signs of dehydration. If babies under three months have a temperature of 38C (or 39C if older) medics should be alerted.
Other red flags include if the child is very tired or irritable, difficulty breathing, grunting noises, tummy sucking in under the ribs, pauses in breathing, blue skin, tongue or lips, being floppy or will not wake up or stay awake.
For further information, click here.
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