Dr. Colm Henry:

Strep A is a common bug usually seen in spring and early summer. We have, in line with the experience in the UK, seen an increase in cases, particularly in the context of the invasive group A strep.

There have been 55 cases in the year to date, with 16 of those under 16. We have seen nine deaths in the UK and one suspected death here. These are slightly different trends than we have seen in previous years, which may be explained by more mixing in the post-Covid era and perhaps altered immune patterns in people who have not been mixing as much as they should. Our health protection function within public health is meeting today and has already sent out alerts to GPs and hospital practitioners to increase awareness and alertness for symptoms and signs of what is unfortunately a common constellation of symptoms seen more often in viral illnesses and less severe bacterial illnesses. We will also meet today to consider antibiotic usage in particular settings where there might be cases.