Red Alert Against Increasing Streptococcal A Infection – Exemption

Japan is once again facing an epidemic. This time, it’s a bacteria, Streptococcus A that has forced 27 of the archipelago’s 47 departments to put themselves on red alert, reports France Culture. These bacteria, often responsible for tonsillitis or mild infections, can, in rare cases, cause streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (SSTS). In this case, the mortality rate is about 30%. Japan reported 941 cases of SCTS in 2023, a record for the country, and 378 cases in the first two months of 2024. guardian. Only two sections of the country are not affected.

Group A streptococcus is transmitted only from person to person, “By air or by direct or indirect exposure to the environment of patients suffering from skin lesions, tonsillitis or other mucosal lesions”, recalls the National Reference Center (CNR) on the subject. “There are still many unknown factors regarding the mechanisms behind fulminant (severe and sudden) forms of strep, and we are not at the point where we can explain them.Japan’s National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIAID) commented.

“Flesh-Eating Bacteria”

In case of severe forms, the bacteria will attack the patient’s muscle. “Its expansion may require surgical excision of necrotic tissue or amputation of the limb”CNR explains, which gave this pathogen a nickname “Flesh-Eating Bacteria”. SCTS is explained by the secretion of specific toxins by bacteria. They can cause joint or neurological problems.

The resurgence of the disease in Japan can be explained by the recent lifting of anti-Covid barrier gestures. In Europe and France, a similar phenomenon was observed at the end of 2022. “This increase may result, at least in part, from rebound post-barrier measures, particularly in children whose immune systems are not normally exposed to circulating strains of GAS.”, wrote Public Health France in March 2023. The country subsequently condemned 170 confirmed cases for 19 deaths. There is no vaccine against Streptococcus A and antibiotic treatment is sometimes not enough to fight the infection.