What's the key to combating deadly invasive strep infections? Detection and treatment, says doctor

There are a number of symptoms to watch out for in order to identify and treat a deadly disease that is seeing a spike in cases in Newfoundland and Labrador, says one doctor.

Last year cases of invasive group A streptococcal diseasetotalled 52, more thandouble any previous year in Newfoundland and Labrador. There were three deaths andit's part of a rising trend happening across Canada.

"It does carry with it a fairly significant rate of mortality and that's why early recognition and treatment is so important," said Dr. Natalie Bridger, pediatric infectious disease physician with Newfoundland and LabradorHealth Services (NLHS).

Bridger said anyone can get this disease and advised that if someone gets very sick quickly, they might want to consider if the case could be group A strep.

"I mean, most severe infections are hardest on the people at the extremes of life, so the very old and the very young," she said.

One symptom to look out for is a full body rash that looks like a sunburn or sandpaper, she said.

As well, if a child isn't eating, is very sleepy, has trouble breathing, complains of severe pain in a limbor has had a fever for five days or more, they should get checked, she said.

When a child is not old enough to communicate, Bridger said, a medical issuecan be harder to discern.

Group A strep bacteria is passed from person to person through close contact, and outbreaks usually happen in households or where people are in close quarters, like in military barracks and daycare centres, said Bridger.

More dangerous

Bridger said most people are familiar with strep throat, which comes with a sore throat and white patches to appear on the back of the tonsils. It's also a common illness in kids between five and15 years old.

But this strain is more deadly than the typical strep throat, she explained.

"Sometimes when the group A strep bacteria gets into places in the body that are normally sterile like the blood tissue in the lungs, some of the lining of the muscles called the fascia it can cause severe disease. And that's when we call it invasive, when it gets into places where it's not normally found," she said.

WATCH | These are the top symptoms to look for when it comes to invasive group A strep:

Early detection of invasive group A strep is key. Here are the symptoms

8 months ago

Duration 0:49

Like most infections, invasive group A strep hits the very old and the very young harder, says Dr. Natalie Bridger, an N.L. pediatric infectious disease physician. What makes it different from common strep throat, she says, is bacteria gets into places it shouldnt like lung tissue and blood. But it responds very well to antibiotics, so knowing the signs and getting treatment as soon as possible is crucial.

Bridger said it's more dangerous than the usual strain of strep because of aprotein called M protein.

"The invasive nature of this type of strep causes the immune system to go completely out of whack. And so the bug gets in, starts to do its damage and then the immune system kind of overdoes the response," said Bridger.

"What happens then is that blood vessels get leaky and people start getting low blood pressure. And most times people have to go to the intensive care unit with this kind of infection."

Bridger said there is no vaccine for group A strep but it is sensitive to regular antibiotics.

"So good old penicillin still works like a charm against group A strep," she said.

She added it's important people are aware of the increased ratesso that doctors, nurses and other health care professionals know to be on the lookout.

"Iif it's found quickly and treated quickly, the results can be very good."

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