Dr Amir Khan shared the “most common” symptoms of Strep A to spot. This comes after six children died with an invasive form of the bacterial infection this winter. While Strep A can trigger an uncomfortable sore throat like in the case of flu and cold, there’s one key symptom typical of these other winter viruses this bacterial infection doesn’t cause.
Speaking on Good Morning Britain, Dr Amir said: “Streptococcus A is a very common bacteria, it’s been around for a very long time.
“We see it in children and adults – most of them cause sore throats but it can cause skin infections and other types of infections as well.”
This pesky bacteria can even lead to scarlet fever, which describes a contagious infection that mostly affects young children.
The doctor continued: “The most common symptoms are sore throats, the tonsil at the back of the throat are usually covered in white puss or exudate.”
READ MORE: Dyspnoea is ‘key red flag’ symptom of lung cancer that appears in 70% of patients
Tonsillar exudate details a fluid secreted by the tonsils in response to infection or inflammation.
Other common symptoms include: fever, muscle aches and swollen glands, according to the expert.
Dr Amir also shared that the absence of runny nose – common with flu and cold – could signal your child has the bacterial infection instead.
He said: “It’s very difficult to kind of tell the difference between that type of infection and cold or flu but often the runny nose is absent with Streptococcus, so you don’t have that kind of congestion associated with this.”
DON’T MISS
