Based on information gathered by CBC News, invasive Group A strep is becoming more common in Canada. This bacterial infection kills about 10% of its victims.
The Public Health Agency of Canada reports that more than 4,600 cases were confirmed in 2023 at the National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg, an increase of more than 40% over the previous yearly high, in 2019.
This pattern is revealed by a recent Public Health Ontario report that states that since October, invasive Group A strep has claimed the lives of six children in the province.
The number of hospitalizations and cases of the disease in Ontario during the last three months of 2023 were almost twice as high as they were during the same period the previous year.
Medical professionals and public health officials are now warning about the possible severity of the disease as a result of this.
“It’s important to be concerned when invasive group A strep is detected because the patient is typically quite ill,” stated Dr. Donald Vinh, who oversees infectious diseases at McGill University Health Centre in Montreal.
In an interview, Vinh stated, “This is a serious infection and potentially deadly one.”
Unwelcome Organization An illness caused by streptococci is when the common strep Beyond the areas it usually infects (the skin or throat), a bacteria can spread into sterile areas of the body like the bloodstream or the fluid surrounding the brain, or it can enter soft tissue and cause necrotizing fasciitis, also referred to as flesh-eating disease.
According to Public Health Ontario’s most recent report, invasive Group A strep is responsible for 48 deaths between October and December, six of which are in children nine years of age or younger.
increases most in younger children and older adults
Dr. Liane Macdonald, a public health physician in the agency’s health protection section, stated, “We’re monitoring this very closely.”
“We’ve seen an increase in both adults and kids and the rates are highest in older adults 65 and older as well as younger children,” Macdonald stated in a telephone interview. “Of course, we’re trying to learn and understand why this disease is increasing.”
increase in serious sickness brought on by strep Bacteria are a “global phenomenon,” existent even in Canada.
The Vancouver Infectious Diseases Centre’s medical director, Dr. Brian Conway, calls the Ontario numbers extremely alarming.
We must investigate the reasons behind it and contrast the situation in Ontario with global trends.
“We need to understand why it happened, compare what’s going on in Ontario to what we’re seeing in the rest of the world and design a strategy to address it,” Conway stated in a recent interview.
