Health secretary insists there is no shortage of antibiotics after nine children die in Strep A outbreak
7 December 2022, 08:26 | Updated: 7 December 2022, 08:29
The Health Secretary took steps to reassure the public today after nine children died in the outbreak of Strep A.
Steve Barclay told LBC that there were no shortages of antibiotics to tackle the bug.
He told Nick Ferrari at Breakfast on LBC: "A lot of parents are worried. Manufacturers are under a duty to share with us if they do have concerns on supply. They’ve been clear that’s not the case.
“When you get a surge of demand, sometimes you get pressure at particular GPs. We have well established processes around moving supplies of stock.”
Health Secretary Steve Barclay comments on provision of antibiotics amid concern over Strep A
His comments come after some pharmacists warned of a shortage of penicillin.
Officials are looking at plans to give entire schools antibiotics to tackle outbreaks of Strep A.
Nine children have died after contracting the infection since September.
They include tragic Stella-Lily McCorkindale, who was identified yesterday as the ninth child to die from the infection in the current outbreak.
Her devastated father took to social media to send messages of thanks to people who sent their support.
He wrote: "I hope use all find the time to read this I don't have the strength to do a video.
"First of all I want to thank everyone of you from the bottom of my heart. If prays, thoughts, feelings and love could of worked she would of walked out of that hospital holding her daddy's hand.
"So from me and Stella-Lily thanks all of you for all you kind prayers and thoughts and feelings we felt everyone, words can't express our gratitude.
"When my daughter was born there was no other option than to bring her home and raise her amongst the greatest people in the world on the Shankill Road.
"We loved every minute together walking this road on our scooter rides or bikes rides, to shopping in Iceland to living beside the neighbours that ever walked this earth.
"From every business we were in to any bad bad booze place we passed everytime I looked up if someone didn't tell me how cute we were then use had big smiles for us.
"You have carried my family this far I ask one thing be with until next Wednesday for her funeral we still need you."
He added: "To everyone from Belfast to Northern Ireland to her family in Canada thank you all for every thought.
"Stella-Lily felt them all."
A fundraising page has begun to raise money to support the family and has currently raised over £5,000.
Black Mountain Primary School in Derry posted a message announcing her death on Facebook.
The school said: “Sadly, the governors, staff and students of Black Mountain Primary School have been informed of the untimely passing of one of our P2 pupils, Stella-Lily McCorkindale.
"This is a tragic loss to the Black Mountain Primary School family and our school community, and the thoughts of the entire school are with the Stella-Lily’s family and friends at this sad and difficult time.
"Stella-Lily was a very bright and talented little girl and very popular with both staff and children and will be greatly missed by everyone at school.
"To assist in supporting our pupils and staff at this sad time, additional trained staff from the Education Authority Critical Incident Response Team have been engaged and will be providing support to the school.
"We recognise that this news may cause worry amongst our school community and we want to reassure parents that we continue to work closely with the Public Health Agency at this time."
Her death brings the total number of victims to nine. It comes after pupil at Morelands Primary school in Hampshire died.
The schools minister confirmed today that preventative antibiotics could be given to children at schools affected by Strep A infections.
As with the other deaths, the child died after contracting an invasive Group A Streptococcal (iGAS) infection, a serious form of the disease, which is usually harmless.
The UK Health Security Agency said it was important that "accurate information is shared with the school community" in Hampshire.
Simon Bryant, director of public health at Hampshire County Council, said it was "working closely with the school to raise awareness amongst parents and carers of the signs and symptoms of Group A Streptococcal infections".
He added: "I would stress that contracting (this) disease from another person is very rare.
"Most people who come into contact with Group A Streptococcal infections remain well and symptom-free - and therefore there is no reason for children to be kept home if well."
A 12-year-old boy who was attending a London school became the seventh to die after contracting the bug.
The child - who was not named - was a Year 8 student at private Colfe’s School in Lewisham, south east London, and is the first secondary school pupil to lose their life in the current outbreak.
GPs have been told to have a 'low threshold' for prescribing antibiotics in possible Strep A infections in children.
Strep A infections are caused by Group A Streptococcus bacteria and usually result in mild illness, especially when antibiotics are prescribed early on the in disease.
However, there is concern among health officials about an unusual rise in serious Strep A infections, called iGAS infections when it moves deeper into the body and which can result in life-threatening problems including sepsis.
So far this year there have been 2.3 cases of iGAS per 100,000 children between the ages of one and four — this is over four times the average of 0.5 seen each season prior to the pandemic.
Updated guidance on scarlet fever outbreaks, which are caused by Strep A, published by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) in October sets out how antibiotics can be used as prophylaxis but a decision is taken with local outbreak control teams (OCTs) on "a case-by-case basis".
