This winter, Europe is experiencing an unusual surge in Strep A, particularly in the UK.
The social distancing and infection protection measures we all took during the pandemic have led to a general reduction in immunity for other common infections, like Strep A.
Those that would have contracted Strep A in 2020 – 2021, are becoming infected this winter instead. The UK has been hit particularly hard, with many more hospitalisations than usual, mainly impacting children aged 10-14 years, followed by older adults aged 75 years and above. Rising cases have also been reported in Ireland, France, Netherlands, Spain and Sweden and the USA. Strep A testing is now available.
Mark Hewlett, Global CEO at 2San explains, “The pandemic introduced self-diagnostic testing to the UK with lateral flow testing. Now, we are seeing a growing demand from consumers and retailers to have a wide range of home testing available to them.
Strep A is the latest health concern for many families so bringing a self-diagnostic solution to market quickly was imperative for us. We’re uniting with retail partners old and new alike to ensure these are as quickly and widely accessible as possible.”
Strep A is a widespread bacteria known as Group A streptococcus, or Streptococcus pyogenes. It is highly contagious and spreads through respiratory droplets that are produced when talking, coughing, or sneezing. It can also spread through touching something with those droplets on, and then touching the mouth or nose.
While Strep A can be carried in the mouth and throat without experiencing any symptoms at all, it is also the cause of several very common childhood illnesses including scarlet fever, sore throats—more commonly referred to as strep throat—and skin infections such as impetigo.
Symptoms typically take two to five days to manifest after exposure and infection rates are typically more common in children than adults - most common among 5 to 15 year olds. Strep throat can be very painful and may develop into an all-over body rash that feels like sandpaper, called scarlet fever. The UK alone has reported more than 6,600 cases of scarlet fever in the last twelve weeks.