Cases of scarlet fever have surged - mainly driven by a large outbreak in Wales. During the week ending December 11, 1,702 people across England and Wales were infected with scarlet fever, a manifestation of Strep A infection.
That shows cases are continuing to rise. There were 1,352 new infections the previous week, 1,044 during the week ending November 27, 960 in the week ending November 20, and 726 during the week ending November 13. Almost half of all new cases (848) were in Wales. That was up from 134 detected the previous week.
But there were also 286 new infections in the North East, up from 59 during the first week in December; 209 in the South East (up from 189), and 191 in the East (up from 150). But the number of new cases fell in London, from 156 to 108.
