Dr. Colm Henry:

I will take that question. Yes, this is the first winter for some years where we have multiple organisms instead of the one organism that was Covid-19. Respiratory syncytial virus, RSV, has not yet quite peaked, influenza is still rising, Covid-19 is steady and we have the spectre of group A Streptococcus infection. The Senator's colleague asked a question at the beginning of this session about group A Streptococcus. We highlighted that for the most severe end of this - the invasive group A Streptococcus - we have 55 cases to date, of which 16 are in the paediatric population. We have seen nine deaths in the UK and one suspected death in Ireland. We have engaged with the general practice community and with the clinical community in paediatric units to advise them to be vigilant and alert for such symptoms. However, the most important audience is parents who are worried about their children. Information is available for them on the HSE website about what to do if a parent is worried a child is sick with sore throat, fever or rash. We encourage people to access it.

In the first instance we encourage parents who are worried to engage with their GP. This is a bug we usually see in late spring and early summer. We are seeing a surge here and in other countries, which is perhaps explained by an increase in congregation in the absence of immunity after a couple of years of a Covid-19 pandemic. Our health protection facility, which is part of public health, is meeting paediatric specialist services this afternoon to see if we can take any enhanced measures, such as provision of antibiotic coverage where there are outbreaks. That will be considered this afternoon. We are taking all the steps to advise parents. As I said, information is available on the HSE website and we encourage people to access general practice if they are worried about fever, rash, sore throat or children being ill beyond a simple virus or flu.