More than 1,000 cases of scarlet fever have been discovered in the last week as 15 children were confirmed to have died of invasive Strep A in the UK. The latest figures released by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) show that 1,131 people in England and Wales have been infected with scarlet fever, a manifestation of Strep A infection, in the week ending December 4. That is up from 991 infections the previous week.
Official figures show that there has been a post-Covid surge in cases of scarlet fever this year. In total between July and December, there have been 11,089 cases of scarlet fever, almost a 10-fold increase from 1,338 cases over the same period of 2021, and nearly 20 times higher than the 577 cases in 2020. Covid-19 restrictions had a knock-on effect of reducing the prevalence of many other contagious illnesses and infections. However, the number of cases in 2022 is also more than double those reported in the three years prior to the pandemic.
The highest number of infections were in the South East, with 189, followed by the North West (182), and then London (156). There were also 150 cases in the East of England, 134 in Wales, 122 in East Midlands, 69 in West Midlands, 66 in Yorkshire and the Humber, 59 in the North East, and just three in the South West. The figures were released in the UKHSA’s weekly NOIDS (Notifications of Infectious Diseases) report and have increased from 991 infections last week.
