<
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/feb/28/deadly-new-uk-strep-a-variant-leading-to-disease-surge-in-australia-experts-say>
"The invasive strep A variant first identified in the UK and thought to be
behind a surge in deaths there and throughout Europe has likely contributed to
a similar uptick in serious disease and hospitalisations in Australia,
researchers say.
While most people who get strep A will not become extremely sick, the bacteria
can lead to severe life-threatening infections. A mutant strep A strain, named
M1UK, was discovered in the UK in 2019 and has been since been linked with
surge in scarlet fever cases, severe infections known as “invasive strep A”,
and deaths.
While health authorities in Australia only recently began recording strep A
cases nationally, so statistics on cases are difficult to map over time,
Victoria and New South Wales are among the states to have issued warnings to be
on alert for symptoms. Health authorities in the UK say between September and
January, invasive strep A led to the deaths of 30 children. A further 10
children have died since then in the UK.
In a paper published in the journal
Nature Communications this month,
researchers from the Doherty Institute and the University of Queensland’s
Institute for Molecular Bioscience reported the detection of M1UK in Australia
for the first time. They also discovered what makes the variant markedly
different to the original bacterium, finding it produces significantly higher
levels of a toxin than the previous strain."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
