A five-year-old girl has died at the Royal Victoria Hospital after being treated in the intensive care unit with a reported Strep A infection.
The young girl was treated for a short period of time in the Royal’s intensive care unit before she passed away, BBC News NI have reported.
The girl attended Black Mountain Primary School in West Belfast. Parents of P1 to P3 children at the school were issued with a letter by the Public Health Agency on Friday informing them that a pupil had been diagnosed with a severe case of Strep A.
While it is reported that most Strep A infections are mild, some people who catch the infection can become very sick and develop scarlet fever and flu-like symptoms. In rare cases, Strep A can cause what is called invasive group a streptococcal infection or iGAS, which can be lethal.
Figures have shown that there were at least 104 cases of scarlet fever in the North of Ireland in November, this was an upsurge from 43 in October. Across England and Wales, eight children have passed away due to complications from Strep A bacterial infections since September.
Health officials and local GPs have appealed to parents to be vigilant. As the infection is highly contagious the message has been to keep sick children at home. This comes as a warning that the amount of cases of both Strep A and scarlet fever will continue to rise in the coming weeks.
