UKHSA pilot scheme shows strep A infections lower in areas where nasal vaccine offered to all young children
of flu patients aged under five in a week, and an 11% fall in vaccine uptake among two- and three-year-olds compared with the past two years.
Misinformation has been circulating on social media, particularly on TikTok, falsely linking the child flu vaccine toDr Elizabeth Whittaker, from Imperial College London, said in a briefing to journalists this week that because strep A can be a complication of flu, having the flu jab protects against both flu and strep A.
Dr Jamie Lopez Bernal, a consultant epidemiologist for immunisation and countermeasures at UKHSA, said: “Children who catch influenza are at greater risk from subsequent infections, including group A strep [GAS], so these findings provide yet more reasons for parents of eligible children to bring them forward for the flu vaccine. This is particularly important at this time when we are seeing unusually high rates of group A strep infection across the population.
In two- to four-year-olds, rates of GAS were 73.5 per 100,000 children in pilot areas, compared with 93 per 100,000 in non-pilot areas. In five- to 10-year-olds, rates were 50.3 per 100,000 in pilot areas, compared with 57.8 per 100,000 in non-pilot areas. There was no difference in scarlet fever or invasive group A strep notifications.
The spike in strep A infections has come as the Department of Health and Social Care issued serious shortage protocols for three penicillin medicines amid increased demand for the antibiotics.
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