There are currently three times more cases of scarlet fever than usual, a senior health official has said. The latest figures show that at least 19 children have now died across the UK from invasive Strep A disease.
Professor Susan Hopkins, chief medical adviser at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), said the vast majority of children affected have a mild illness and that an “open mind” is being kept as to why there is a spike in infections. Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, she said: “The latest with scarlet fever and Strep A infections are that we’ve seen about just over 7500 notifications of scarlet fever, and that’s probably an underestimate.
“We have a lot of reports coming in in the last few days so we expect it to be even higher. That’s about three times higher than the same time in a normal season. The last bad season we had in 2017 and 18.
