GPs report cases of scarlet fever

Outbreak worst in Hinckley

A CLUSTER of cases of scarlet fever has been reported in a district.

Pubic Health England said there have been 16 cases of the contagious viral infection in Hinckley and Bosworth.

There were a further seven cases in North West Leicestershire, three in Blaby and two in Charnwood.

All were diagnosed during the week ending December 1.

Across the entire East Midlands there were 59 cases of scarlet fever.

Medical practitioners in England and Wales have a duty to report scarlet fever and certain serious infectious diseases, in order to track and control breakouts.

Scarlet fever is caused by the bacteria group A streptococcus.

It is spread through close contact with people carrying the organism, often in the throat, or by touching objects and surfaces contaminated with the bacterium.

Cases occur all year round, but mainly in the spring.

It was a common cause of childhood death in Victorian times.

Even today, in rare cases, it can cause severe illnesses such as pneumonia, sepsis and liver and kidney damage.

In the early 1900s through to the 1930s, the number of cases of scarlet fever in England and Wales regularly topped 100,000.

Since then the numbers have declined.

Symptoms include a sore throat, headache and fever, accompanied by a characteristic pink red rash that feels like sandpaper, pictured.

The information about the outbreak comes from Public Health England’s Statutory Notifications of Infectious Diseases report for the week ending Sunday, December 1.

Also according to the report, there were four cases of mumps reported in Charnwood and one in North West Leicestershire.

Two cases of whooping cough were diagnosed in the county – one in Harborough and one in Hinckley and Bosworth.

There was one case of measles in North West Leicestershire.