Strep Throat Surge In PA: What To Know

PENNSYLVANIA — Cases of invasive group A strep infections are still making people sick in Pennsylvania and several other places around the country, public health officials warned Wednesday.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said its preliminary 2023 data shows group A strep infections are occurring at rates above those seen before the pandemic.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health sent out a health advisory to health professionals in December about possible increases in the state. According to the PA DOH, Group A strep “can spread rapidly in congregate settings including long-term care facilities, shelters for people who are experiencing homelessness, and others.”

People at higher risk for developing complications from Group A Strep include children, elderly and immunocompromised people, those with medical conditions, and people with skin disease, trauma, surgical wounds, and a history of injection drug use, said the state department of health.

The bacteria is commonly carried by people in their noses and throats or on the skin, but in its invasive form, it can invade parts of the body that are normally free from germs. This more severe type of strep is usually seen in children, but the CDC said some areas of the country are seeing it more often in adults, including those 65 and older.

Any strep A case warrants a trip to the doctor, health officials say. Typical symptoms include fever, sore throat and difficulty swallowing.

Parents and caregivers should also keep an eye out for symptoms of toxic shock syndrome — fever, chills, muscle aches, nausea and vomiting — and the so-called “flesh-eating” disease, necrotizing fasciitis — a fast-spreading swollen area on the skin, severe pain and fever, along with blisters, changes in skin color or pus at the infected area.

Like other contagious illnesses, invasive group Strep A cases dropped during the social distancing of the pandemic, falling to the lowest number of cases on record since 1997 among school-aged kids.

Mild and moderate strep infections are usually treated with amoxicillin, which is in short supply. Alternative therapies are available. Invasive group Strep A roared back last year amid the shortage of drugs to treat it, although there’s no data link as yet between those developments, the CDC said.

A week after the CDC’s December warning of an uptick in cases, the World Health Organization reported invasive Group A infections were also increasing in several other countries.

Invasive group strep A is both dangerous and rare, with anywhere between 14,000 and 25,000 illnesses a year in the United States. The fatality rate is around 1,500 to 2,300 people a year, according to the CDC.

Patch’s national desk contributed to this report.