TWO children in Scotland with the Strep A infecton have died, according to new data from Public Health Scotland (PHS).

The two were under 10 and died between October and December.

They are the first reported fatalities in children from the bacteria in Scotland.

Data from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) shows 21 children under 18 in England have died from invasive Strep A disease, while three deaths of children have been recorded in Belfast and Wales.

READ MORE: Strep A: All you need to know from symptoms to treatment

Scottish Health Secretary Humza Yousaf tweeted: “Every death is a tragedy, particularly those of young children, my thoughts with families and loved ones affected.”

He added: “Thankfully most cases of Strep A present as mild illness and can be treated with antibiotics.”

The minister said he was working with the UK government to ensure there were adequate supplies of treatment.

He added: “Where localised shortages of first line treatments occur there are alternative and effective antibiotics available.”

Group A Streptococcus (GAS) are usually mild but can develop into a more serious invasive Group A Streptococcus (iGAS), a rare but sometimes life-threatening infection.

PHS said seven people in total had died among iGAS cases between October 3 and December. They also confirmed that they had received reports of 20 cases in children under 10.

In the week up to Christmas, there were 869 laboratory reports of GAS. While this is down from 1,079 the previous week, it is almost three times as many as last year.

Normally, during the peak periods of the bacteria, there are between 300 and 480 reports per week.

The PHS report said that despite this substantial spike in GAS figures, the iGAS infection levels “have been generally stable and similar to previous years.”

In the week ending December 25 there were 15 iGAS cases reported across all age groups, compared with 13 in the previous week.

This compares with between 12 and 18 cases per week during peaks observed in previous years.

Calum Semple, Professor of Child Health and Outbreak Medicine at the University of Liverpool and a consultant respiratory paediatrician at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital Liverpool said the surge in numbers in GAS cases was likely due to the lifting of the pandemic restrictions.

“This is a very nasty disease,” he told BBC Radio Scotland. “We can’t pretend otherwise. But it’s not a new disease. It’s been around for centuries.

“Prior to the Covid outbreak, we were seeing some bad years and some good years.

“And what we’re seeing now, as we’ve come out of lockdown, when we’ve suppressed infection generally in the community, it’s as if all the buses have left the bus station at once and now they’re hitting the kids.

“It’s not so much caused by lockdown. It’s just that we’re seeing a resurgence of cases because there hasn’t been any cases for the last two and a half years.” 

Symptoms of GAS, which can cause scarlet fever, include a sore throat which makes eating and swallowing difficult, a headache, fever and a distinctive pinkish or red body rash which feels like sandpaper when touched.

If a child is showing signs, parents and carers are urged to seek advice from a health professional as most cases respond promptly to early treatment with antibiotics.

Professor Semple said Scotland was in a “relatively better position than other parts of the UK.”

He said they were seeing more cases and “an awful lot more sick cases and younger children affected as well”.

He told the BBC: “We’ve received some desperately sick children with chest infections which results in a condition called empyema, which is when there’s a build-up of pus and abscesses in the lungs, pneumothorax and some children tragically have lost tissue because they get a sepsis type syndrome with poor circulation in the peripheries.

“So we have some children with finger loss and tissue loss.

“These are these the rare exceptions - to come back from these scary stories - the important thing to realise is that is a treatable disease when picked up early and not every case of sore throat is going to be Group A Strep.

“So the challenge here is to get the basics out to parents, which is if the child is not drinking or is unusually drowsy or has got a new rash and generally concerned then that’s when they should be seeking urgent medical attention.”

News of the deaths comes amid concerns over supplies of the antibiotics to treat infections.

A number of “serious shortage protocols” have been issued to GPs and pharmacies as demand surges.

Doctors have reported problems getting hold of the treatment.

In a note, Alison Strath, Scotland’s Chief Pharmaceutical Officer said it could be another month until supplies of certain drugs were stabilised. She urged medics to use alternatives.

Meanwhile, Scottish Tory shadow health secretary Dr Sandesh Gulhane has called for Mr Yousaf to update parliament when Holyrood returns next week.

The MSP, who is also a practising GP, said parents in his clinic were concerned about the bacteria.

He said: “This is heart-breaking news and my thoughts are with the families affected.

“We need an urgent statement from the health secretary on this subject as soon as parliament returns in the new year.

“There is understandably great distress from parents, particularly over the widely-reported difficulties in obtaining penicillins across Scotland.”

“In my clinic today, I saw children with rashes that could conceivably have been Strep A, so parents are naturally concerned and desperate for reassurance.”