By Stephen Adams
Boy, 12, becomes first secondary school Strep A victim as parents vow to keep thousands of children at home after bug kills seven youngsters
- The primary school-aged children have died of complications from Strep A
- UK Health Security Agency said that children should attend school as normal
- Parents won’t send children to school, even those without confirmed infections
Thousands of children could be kept off school this week amid heightened fears about a potentially deadly winter bug.
Parents of children at schools where pupils have died of Strep A, which can cause scarlet fever and more serious diseases, have already vowed to keep their sons and daughters at home. And many more could follow suit, even at schools without confirmed infections.
Over the past few weeks, seven school-aged children have died of complications after contracting Strep A, a relatively common bacteria which usually causes only mild symptoms such as a sore throat.
A 12-year-old boy is the first secondary school pupil to die in the current outbreak. He is reported to have been a Year 8 pupil at fee-paying Colfe’s School in Lewisham, South-East London.
Four-year-old Muhammad Ibrahim Ali, of High Wycombe, died after contracting Strep A and suffering a cardiac arrest.
And four-year-old Camila Rose Burns from Bolton, Lancashire, is fighting for her life in Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool.
One of those who died was a six-year-old child, believed to be a girl, at Ashford Church of England Primary School in Surrey.
Last week teachers at nearby Echelford Primary School, also in Ashford, wrote to parents confirming two children had been infected.
They said they had been advised by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) that ‘children should continue to attend school as normal and parents/carers should not be overly alarmed’.
They added: ‘We would like to reiterate that if well, it is safe for children to attend school as normal.’ But parents have said they are so worried about the bug, which can be spread easily, that they will be keeping children at home.
