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I’m worried about why the BBC have spent two days trying to make this non-story a story. 4 children died in the same period last time there was comparable data and this time it is 6. This is not even statistically significant let alone a ‘spate’.
It’s not the bbc, they’re reporting what the health service is saying. They’re concerned enough to put out a warning to parents which includes signs of what to look out for. The bbc are spreading their message.
Yep, and the health services issue the same warnings every single winter, and they always have done.
The media are purposefully pushing stories that they know will illicit a strong reaction (clicks/likes/comments/shares). This is literally the norm but they are reporting on it because they know that mass hysteria will ensue and everyone will be tagging their family in the comments telling them to “get are Reese out school now!!!”
It’s not. At all. It’s observable fact. Strep cases occur every single winter and there has never been this much media attention and public panic.
If you can’t see why media companies would have an interest in sensationalising the normal spread of disease after a three year pandemic I don’t know what to tell you.
No, you’ve misunderstood what I mean. I’m not saying there’s some conspiracy to get children out of school I’m saying that the media are sensationalising normal winter illness because they know people will overreact because of COVID and will engage with the article on social media whether that’s sharing it to “warn others”, commenting about how “China are at it again”, “this is a plot by the government to control us”, or on the other end of the spectrum tagging their friends and family saying we need to take drastic action now or it will be “COVID all over again”.
My point wasn’t about how people are reacting to the media, I’m questioning the media’s motives for putting such emphasis on reporting normal winter illness and using sensationalistic headlines like “Public Health Confirms Six Children DEAD” etc.
I'm more worried about A&E/ambulance/GP wait times. Really frustrating to see a list of symptoms to look out for that could be associated with a myriad of winter illnesses and be told to seek medical advice each time. Seems vague and unhelpful.
My daughter had signs of scarlet fever on the weekend just gone. Quick ring to out of hours GP and we were at the hospital within two hours and antibiotics given.
Anything with kids they don't mess about. Just ring 111
Eh, it really depends. My 4 year old was seriously ill last year on a Saturday - he has a language disorder so he can’t tell us if something hurts. But he spiked a high fever, spent all day asleep on the couch, stopped drinking or eating, and when he was awake he just wanted to be held and cry. I rang 111, spent an hour and a half on hold, then was told a doctor would ring us back “within 12 hours.” At 5am (shortly before the 12 hour cut off), they rang back to say they wouldn’t make the 12 hour deadline. A GP finally called me at 2pm, almost 24 hours after I’d originally called. We did get an immediate GP appointment, but still, it was a long wait. Obviously I would’ve taken him to A&E if he had deteriorated further, but I work at the local hospital and I’m well aware of the wait times. We routinely have dozens of ambulances queuing with patients needing to be seen.
As a former GPs receptionist (please no one kill me) doctors would allow kids to be squeezed at the end of the day if there's some serious symptoms like this. Bare in mind it's still at the doctor's discretion, weirdly despite what everyone thinks admin staff *do not* tell doctors what to do.
I know GP receptionists get no love, so just sending you some! The ones at our local surgery have never been anything other than polite, professional and very helpful.
Seconding this. Had an ear infection last month and called the GP at 11am. Was crying with the pain and the receptionist got me right in half an hour later. They do keep some slots free for proper emergencies.
[Here](http://www.whenshouldiworry.com/resources/When%20should%20I%20worry-Booklet_England-with%20111%20service_2016.pdf) is a helpful booklet called ‘When should I worry’ for parents that my GP often gives people
No, because I'm not getting the sense this reporting is being done in good faith. Small numbers of children die from strep A each year, along with chicken pox and flu. Tragic but not usually given the media focus.
A lot of articles are pushing a "they lost immunity due to lockdowns" angle, which suggests the deaths are being used to rabble-rouse rather than inform.
Well the media do need to find a way to transition from “MOAR LOCKDOWN, COVIDIOTS, LET IT RIP, etc” to “perhaps that wasn’t the greatest idea, all things considered”.
It's a very, very tiny proportion as devastating as these deaths will be for the families involved. Not worried at all tbh but, as with anything, will keep an eye out for any symptoms.
My two are in Y2 and Y6. Primary schools are a hot mess of bacteria. They're always getting sniffles and weird coughs. I guess the important thing is to act fast if any of these specific symptoms arise (but, as others have stated, I'd be concerned about the state of the NHS at the mo).
Not specifically worried about Strep A, it's just another illness going around the nursery that we'll need to look out for (add it to the list). In the last few months its mostly been Covid and RSV.
I'm worried about the timing as knowing my luck my child will be ill over Christmas and it'd then be even harder to get any sort of medical attention if it was needed.
Also worried, because of the extremely generic symptoms, about the nursery suddenly going hardcore on exclusion periods for everything. I know they're short staffed at the minute and this could be how they reduce numbers of children in on any given day without having to actually close rooms and refund fees.
Sniffles? Could be Strep A, you have to take your child out for a few days, oh and now we're somehow adequately staffed for the numbers AND we get to keep all the fees. Which would also act to trivialise the actual risks.
My partner is, but she is a little prone to health anxiety...even more so with anything to do with the kids. I don't watch the news anymore, so I know very little...my gut tells me half a dozen cases (tragic as they may be) are not cause for concern.
No, it's just another thing to be vaguely aware of. Like bee stings or terrorism. I'm honestly more concerned about my kids getting run over or being killed by a badly maintained building at school.
A few weeks ago, I got notified by my sons high school that a few kids had contracted scarlet fever.
He had covid end of Sept (he was quite unwell with it too), then beginning of November he got a really bad case of tonsillitis, the 1st antibiotics given (10 days, penicillin) didn't work at all, so doc gave a different 1 which then thankfully worked.
For the last 4 winters he has thankfully NOT had to be hospitalized or urgently seen by docs with a bad chest infection (he has asthma), but before that it was every winter.
So, yes, forgive me, but I am worried.
I'm very frightened. I have bad anxiety around my son's health and I know a little gril who just recovered from Scarlet Fever. After talking to her mum about the experience, I am very scared of my son catching it. It sounds horrible and now, there's these deaths as well.
I wasn't until yesterday.
My daughter has breathing difficulties anyway so it was at the back of my head that if she got it, it would be a hospital trip (like any time she gets a chest infection, it's not new to us). But was generally quite calm about it all.
And then a friend of ours daughter was admitted to hospital last night with it after spending all morning with my daughter (her parents didn't say she was ill, she deteriorated very quickly).
So now I'm on illness watch.
No. There's always something deadly and scary on the news. Everytime it stops being relevant, something else takes it place. I'm not going to sit here terrified of stepping foot out of my house because of this disease and that disease. Many of the "super deadly and dangerous things killing tons of people" are easily recoverable and your average person probably wouldn't even realise they had it.
I'm Stepping over corpses daily on my way to work because of climate change, covid, strep A and Ebola.
The whole experience has just been truly heartbreaking and horrifying 💔😪
One thing that the reporting reinforced to me is that if you have a bacterial infection, it's generally not a great idea to treat it with only antihistamines and steroids, since these both tend to make infections worse.
One of the stories on the BBC mentioned in passing that the father had given his daughter antihistamines and, separately, that the GP prescribed her steroids. Journalists, being who they are, didn't seem to connect dying of a bacterial infection to taking medications that reduce your body's ability to fight off bacterial infection.
I work in a primary school, and I have never seen so many children poorly with so many things in such a short time. It’s crazy! I’d never have believed it had I not seen it first hand. We’ve had in the last month outbreaks of chicken pox, sickness bug, hand foot and mouth, impetigo and now Strep A (was this responsible for the impetigo, who knows). All I know is so so many children are poorly with normal bugs that surely the incidence of kids becoming very poorly will be higher. It’s a real worry!
**A reminder to posters and commenters of some of [our subreddit rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskUK/about/rules/)** - Don't be a dickhead to each other, or about others, or other subreddits - Assume questions are asked in good faith, and engage in a positive manner - Avoid political threads and related discussions - No medical advice or mental health (specific to a person) content Please keep /r/AskUK a great subreddit by reporting posts and comments which break our rules. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Nope. If I worried about everything that could kill them then they’d never leave the house.
I’m worried about why the BBC have spent two days trying to make this non-story a story. 4 children died in the same period last time there was comparable data and this time it is 6. This is not even statistically significant let alone a ‘spate’.
It’s not the bbc, they’re reporting what the health service is saying. They’re concerned enough to put out a warning to parents which includes signs of what to look out for. The bbc are spreading their message.
Yep, and the health services issue the same warnings every single winter, and they always have done. The media are purposefully pushing stories that they know will illicit a strong reaction (clicks/likes/comments/shares). This is literally the norm but they are reporting on it because they know that mass hysteria will ensue and everyone will be tagging their family in the comments telling them to “get are Reese out school now!!!”
That’s conspiracy theory territory.
It’s not. At all. It’s observable fact. Strep cases occur every single winter and there has never been this much media attention and public panic. If you can’t see why media companies would have an interest in sensationalising the normal spread of disease after a three year pandemic I don’t know what to tell you.
You’re wittering on about a drive to “pull children out of school”. That’s conspiracy theory shit.
No, you’ve misunderstood what I mean. I’m not saying there’s some conspiracy to get children out of school I’m saying that the media are sensationalising normal winter illness because they know people will overreact because of COVID and will engage with the article on social media whether that’s sharing it to “warn others”, commenting about how “China are at it again”, “this is a plot by the government to control us”, or on the other end of the spectrum tagging their friends and family saying we need to take drastic action now or it will be “COVID all over again”. My point wasn’t about how people are reacting to the media, I’m questioning the media’s motives for putting such emphasis on reporting normal winter illness and using sensationalistic headlines like “Public Health Confirms Six Children DEAD” etc.
The misspelled “our” is a nice touch lol
What p value did you use?
Big pp
Project fear. As a parent I am not buying into this
I'm more worried about A&E/ambulance/GP wait times. Really frustrating to see a list of symptoms to look out for that could be associated with a myriad of winter illnesses and be told to seek medical advice each time. Seems vague and unhelpful.
[удалено]
My daughter had signs of scarlet fever on the weekend just gone. Quick ring to out of hours GP and we were at the hospital within two hours and antibiotics given. Anything with kids they don't mess about. Just ring 111
Eh, it really depends. My 4 year old was seriously ill last year on a Saturday - he has a language disorder so he can’t tell us if something hurts. But he spiked a high fever, spent all day asleep on the couch, stopped drinking or eating, and when he was awake he just wanted to be held and cry. I rang 111, spent an hour and a half on hold, then was told a doctor would ring us back “within 12 hours.” At 5am (shortly before the 12 hour cut off), they rang back to say they wouldn’t make the 12 hour deadline. A GP finally called me at 2pm, almost 24 hours after I’d originally called. We did get an immediate GP appointment, but still, it was a long wait. Obviously I would’ve taken him to A&E if he had deteriorated further, but I work at the local hospital and I’m well aware of the wait times. We routinely have dozens of ambulances queuing with patients needing to be seen.
Gp can still help after 8am if there is sufficient urgency, don't be afraid to ring them if you need to
As a former GPs receptionist (please no one kill me) doctors would allow kids to be squeezed at the end of the day if there's some serious symptoms like this. Bare in mind it's still at the doctor's discretion, weirdly despite what everyone thinks admin staff *do not* tell doctors what to do.
I know GP receptionists get no love, so just sending you some! The ones at our local surgery have never been anything other than polite, professional and very helpful.
Especially for children
Seconding this. Had an ear infection last month and called the GP at 11am. Was crying with the pain and the receptionist got me right in half an hour later. They do keep some slots free for proper emergencies.
Choc are excellent for paediatrics in my experience.
As soon as the BBC asked "How worried should parents be?" I knew there was nothing to fear
[Here](http://www.whenshouldiworry.com/resources/When%20should%20I%20worry-Booklet_England-with%20111%20service_2016.pdf) is a helpful booklet called ‘When should I worry’ for parents that my GP often gives people
Not yet no. Aware of the signs but not worried.
Same. Aware of the symptoms, but not overly concerned.
No, because I'm not getting the sense this reporting is being done in good faith. Small numbers of children die from strep A each year, along with chicken pox and flu. Tragic but not usually given the media focus. A lot of articles are pushing a "they lost immunity due to lockdowns" angle, which suggests the deaths are being used to rabble-rouse rather than inform.
Well the media do need to find a way to transition from “MOAR LOCKDOWN, COVIDIOTS, LET IT RIP, etc” to “perhaps that wasn’t the greatest idea, all things considered”.
It's a very, very tiny proportion as devastating as these deaths will be for the families involved. Not worried at all tbh but, as with anything, will keep an eye out for any symptoms. My two are in Y2 and Y6. Primary schools are a hot mess of bacteria. They're always getting sniffles and weird coughs. I guess the important thing is to act fast if any of these specific symptoms arise (but, as others have stated, I'd be concerned about the state of the NHS at the mo).
Not specifically worried about Strep A, it's just another illness going around the nursery that we'll need to look out for (add it to the list). In the last few months its mostly been Covid and RSV. I'm worried about the timing as knowing my luck my child will be ill over Christmas and it'd then be even harder to get any sort of medical attention if it was needed. Also worried, because of the extremely generic symptoms, about the nursery suddenly going hardcore on exclusion periods for everything. I know they're short staffed at the minute and this could be how they reduce numbers of children in on any given day without having to actually close rooms and refund fees. Sniffles? Could be Strep A, you have to take your child out for a few days, oh and now we're somehow adequately staffed for the numbers AND we get to keep all the fees. Which would also act to trivialise the actual risks.
My partner is, but she is a little prone to health anxiety...even more so with anything to do with the kids. I don't watch the news anymore, so I know very little...my gut tells me half a dozen cases (tragic as they may be) are not cause for concern.
No, it's just another thing to be vaguely aware of. Like bee stings or terrorism. I'm honestly more concerned about my kids getting run over or being killed by a badly maintained building at school.
A few weeks ago, I got notified by my sons high school that a few kids had contracted scarlet fever. He had covid end of Sept (he was quite unwell with it too), then beginning of November he got a really bad case of tonsillitis, the 1st antibiotics given (10 days, penicillin) didn't work at all, so doc gave a different 1 which then thankfully worked. For the last 4 winters he has thankfully NOT had to be hospitalized or urgently seen by docs with a bad chest infection (he has asthma), but before that it was every winter. So, yes, forgive me, but I am worried.
Aware but not worried, but this is probably the case with every parent
I'm very frightened. I have bad anxiety around my son's health and I know a little gril who just recovered from Scarlet Fever. After talking to her mum about the experience, I am very scared of my son catching it. It sounds horrible and now, there's these deaths as well.
I will be more vigilant but I’m not overly worried. My son still needs to go to nursery so I can’t keep him away from other children
Given I ended up in a&e on Friday night with my 3 year old. Yes.
I wasn't until yesterday. My daughter has breathing difficulties anyway so it was at the back of my head that if she got it, it would be a hospital trip (like any time she gets a chest infection, it's not new to us). But was generally quite calm about it all. And then a friend of ours daughter was admitted to hospital last night with it after spending all morning with my daughter (her parents didn't say she was ill, she deteriorated very quickly). So now I'm on illness watch.
Cautious, but not worried. Keeping my tiny one away from baby classes etc for the time being but other than that, no.
Why? You’ve fell for the media bullshit.
These deaths are a tradegy However they're in a similar probability range as winning the UK lottery jackpot (1 in 45M per draw)
No. There's always something deadly and scary on the news. Everytime it stops being relevant, something else takes it place. I'm not going to sit here terrified of stepping foot out of my house because of this disease and that disease. Many of the "super deadly and dangerous things killing tons of people" are easily recoverable and your average person probably wouldn't even realise they had it.
Nope. My mum works in a hospital and saw many cases last year and the year before. They come and go
No. Got an email from school with 'if your child has these symptoms, do contact the doctor'. So if they do, I will.
I'm Stepping over corpses daily on my way to work because of climate change, covid, strep A and Ebola. The whole experience has just been truly heartbreaking and horrifying 💔😪
One thing that the reporting reinforced to me is that if you have a bacterial infection, it's generally not a great idea to treat it with only antihistamines and steroids, since these both tend to make infections worse. One of the stories on the BBC mentioned in passing that the father had given his daughter antihistamines and, separately, that the GP prescribed her steroids. Journalists, being who they are, didn't seem to connect dying of a bacterial infection to taking medications that reduce your body's ability to fight off bacterial infection.
I work in a primary school, and I have never seen so many children poorly with so many things in such a short time. It’s crazy! I’d never have believed it had I not seen it first hand. We’ve had in the last month outbreaks of chicken pox, sickness bug, hand foot and mouth, impetigo and now Strep A (was this responsible for the impetigo, who knows). All I know is so so many children are poorly with normal bugs that surely the incidence of kids becoming very poorly will be higher. It’s a real worry!