A rare and dangerous infection that is spreading at a record rate in Japan.
Japanese authorities are sounding the alarm after recording an abnormally high number of cases of streptococcal infections in the country, while struggling to identify the cause, reports the Guardian.
It is the most serious and fatal form of these group A streptococcal (GAS) infections, staphylococcal toxic shock syndrome (SCTS), which is of particular concern to the authorities.
The number of cases in 2024 is likely to exceed the number recorded last year, which was already a record.
Indeed, 378 cases have already been recorded at this point in 2024, compared to 941 in 2023.
“There are still many unknown factors regarding the mechanisms behind fulminant (severe and sudden) forms of streptococcus, and we are not at the stage where we can explain them,” said the National Institute of Streptococcus. infectious diseases (NIAID).
A mortality rate greater than 30%
If the elderly are considered the most at risk, this virulent strain causes more deaths in patients under 50, specifies the institute.
Among the 65 people under the age of 50 who received a diagnosis between July and December 2023, 21 people died, or more than 32%, according to figures from Japanese media Asahi Shimbun.
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This disease can cause sore throats, mainly in children, and many people have it without getting sick and therefore without knowing it.
But the highly contagious bacteria that cause the infection can sometimes cause serious illness with health complications and sometimes death, especially in adults over 30.
Group A Streptococcus is transmitted exclusively from human to human.
It is responsible for many mild infections such as angina and impetigo, but can also be responsible for very serious and fatal invasive infections.
If its mortality rate is estimated at around 10% for all pathologies combined, it rises to 30% when it causes staphylococcal toxic shock syndrome (SCTS).
Covid-19 linked to this increase in cases
Older adults may experience cold-like symptoms, but in rare cases, symptoms may worsen into strep throat, tonsillitis, pneumonia, and meningitis.
In more severe cases, this can lead to organ failure and necrosis.
In Japan, some experts believe the increase in cases in 2023 was linked to the lifting of restrictions imposed during the Covid-19 pandemic.
In France, when an upsurge in cases was observed at the end of 2022, Public Health France also mentioned a “rebound in GAS infections post-barrier measures”, the immune system having “not been in contact with the strains which usually circulate .
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As with Covid-19, streptococcal infections are spread by droplets and physical contact.
The bacteria can also infect patients through wounds on the hands and feet.
Strep A infections are treated with combination antibiotics when cases are severe in intensive medical care.