A total of 151 people have died after contracting Strep A in England so far this winter, according to new figures. These include 29 children under 18.
It compares with a total of 355 deaths across the whole season in the last comparable year which was in 2017-2018. Of this there were a total of 27 deaths in under 18s. However the total figure for the UK as a whole will be higher as the Agency only covers England and it is known there have been deaths of children in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The latest data from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) shows scarlet fever and group A strep (GAS) infections "remain high". Its figures show there have already been more notifications of scarlet fever than across the whole of the last comparably high season.
