Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / RDH Infectious diseases physician Dr Bart Currie says cases of Strep A, also know as school sores are on the rise and early treatment is vital

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RDH Infectious diseases physician Dr Bart Currie says cases of Strep A, also know as school sores are on the rise and early treatment is vital · 360 with Katie Woolf

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  Speaker 1: We understand that there's been a rise in strap A
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  Speaker 1: cases across the top end, with more than one hundred
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  Speaker 1: cases reported in the last year. Now Royal Dale and
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  Speaker 1: Hospitals Professor and Well Infectious Diseases Physician Professor Bart Curry
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  Speaker 1: is warning that the way the way cases for this
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  Speaker 1: year are currently tracking, we could be in for an
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  Speaker 1: above average number again.
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  Speaker 2: Now he joins me on the line. Good morning to you,
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  Speaker 2: Professor Curry. Good morning, great to have you on the show. Bart.
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  Speaker 2: Now tell me, can you remind us what is strepe a?
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  Speaker 3: So strape is a bacterium, and it's the bacteria that
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  Speaker 3: causes strap throat, which people will be aware of, which
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  Speaker 3: is a really nasty tonsilitis. So it's a bacteria, which
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  Speaker 3: means that antibiotics will treat it. Most sore throats are
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  Speaker 3: from viruses, but when you have a bacterial infection, particularly
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  Speaker 3: with strape, then people can be particularly sick. But in
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  Speaker 3: the territory, strap also is the commonest cause of school saws,
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  Speaker 3: which kids get quite commonly and particularly at in remote communities.
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  Speaker 3: So what we call skin saws or school saws are
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  Speaker 3: those saws on the skin. They are often due to strepe.
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  Speaker 2: And but do you have both at the same time
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  Speaker 2: or what happens?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, look, that's a really good question, and people are
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  Speaker 3: trying to figure out which comes first, Is it in
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  Speaker 3: the throat or the skin, But usually it's one or
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  Speaker 3: the other mostly, And the thing is that the complications
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  Speaker 3: of strepe that are the great concern. So you won't
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  Speaker 3: actually get seriously or from the skin saw itself, but
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  Speaker 3: if it gets into the blood stream and causes blood poisoning,
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  Speaker 3: then that's what's called invasive strepe infection. And they're the
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  Speaker 3: things that are particularly concern to us and which have
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  Speaker 3: been on the rise, not just in the Northern Territory
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  Speaker 3: but around all of Australia.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. Right, so what are we saying more of at
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  Speaker 2: the moment?
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  Speaker 1: But is it more of the school saw kind of
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  Speaker 1: of strep a or is it the really sore throat.
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  Speaker 3: Look for us, it's more the school saws. But when
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  Speaker 3: we look at the consequences of bloodstream infection, some of
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  Speaker 3: them will still be from strap that's been in the throat,
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  Speaker 3: but in the context of the Northern Territory, the driver
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  Speaker 3: has mostly been strap in the skin. So it's when
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  Speaker 3: you get this blood poisoning that's when it can cause
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  Speaker 3: what's called sepsis, and so that's kids and adults could
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  Speaker 3: be critically Also, last year in the in the whole
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  Speaker 3: of the territory, we had one hundred and seven cases
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  Speaker 3: of this invasive strap a and there were unforty six
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  Speaker 3: deaths from invasive strap a last year in the territory.
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  Speaker 3: That's in twenty twenty two. All of those six deaths
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  Speaker 3: were in people over the age of fifty, but we
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  Speaker 3: also had some pretty serious infections in young kids as well.
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  Speaker 2: And how are we tracking for this year so far?
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  Speaker 3: Well, so far we've had fifteen cases of invasive strape
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  Speaker 3: and there's not been any death so far this year.
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  Speaker 3: One of the things is that our health staff are
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  Speaker 3: pretty attuned to this, both out remotely in communities but
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  Speaker 3: also in our hospitals and in our GP clinic. So nurses, doctors,
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  Speaker 3: health workers are aware of the concerns about strape. So
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  Speaker 3: if it's severe strape, then it is very important to
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  Speaker 3: get to get antibotics quickly.
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  Speaker 1: But what are the symptoms, like, what do people need
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  Speaker 1: to be aware of if they're you know, like you
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  Speaker 1: might be someone might be listening this morning thinking, oh,
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  Speaker 1: I've got a really sick child with an incredibly sore throat,
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  Speaker 1: but they don't have the school saw, you know, they
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  Speaker 1: don't have the sows. Like what should people be keeping
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  Speaker 1: an eye out for.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, So when it gets into the bloodstream, which is
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  Speaker 3: what we're worried about, from either throat or skin, people
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  Speaker 3: then become unwell and they have high temperatures, They may
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  Speaker 3: be sweating a lot, They feel but particularly fatigued, and
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  Speaker 3: they may start to get some like clouding of conscious state,
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  Speaker 3: so particularly when they're sort of like in bed and
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  Speaker 3: have differty getting out of bed. But then also the
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  Speaker 3: strip in the blood can spread to other parts of
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  Speaker 3: the body, so they may start to get a headache
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  Speaker 3: and a stiff neck if it was to be spreading there,
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  Speaker 3: or they may start to get signs of a pneumonia
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  Speaker 3: where they start to have a cough as well. So
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  Speaker 3: the initial bloodstream infection is mainly about high fevers and
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  Speaker 3: being particularly unwell and with generalized aches and lethargy. So
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  Speaker 3: the other thing is it can also spread to joints
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  Speaker 3: and to bones, so that can also be an issue.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, right, so what can we do, how can it
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  Speaker 1: be treated or what do we do if we think
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  Speaker 1: we might have it.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, so it's very important if someone's heading in the
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  Speaker 3: wrong direction with their illness and starts out with a
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  Speaker 3: skin sore throat, but then they're looking particularly unwell and
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  Speaker 3: it's important they get they get to their GP or
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  Speaker 3: to wherever their primary care clinic might be, or even
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  Speaker 3: to the emergency apartment if they're particularly unwell, or if
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  Speaker 3: they're if they're completely unwell in bed, then obviously dial
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  Speaker 3: triple nine and call an ambulance, but that would only
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  Speaker 3: be in the if someone is looking like they're absolutely
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  Speaker 3: and extremists. So the doctor's nurse's health staff will usually
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  Speaker 3: take cultures of the sites which are infected, which would
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  Speaker 3: be a swab from the throat or from the skin,
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  Speaker 3: and then also cultures of the blood which is a
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  Speaker 3: blood test, and usually start antibiotics if they think the
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  Speaker 3: person has what we're calling invasive strap a disease or
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  Speaker 3: stepsis from another cause.
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  Speaker 2: Anything else we should be aware of with this one.
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  Speaker 3: Doctor Curry, No, I think that the main thing is
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  Speaker 3: is that people by getting help early and then we
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  Speaker 3: can decrease the severe outcomes that we see from this.
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  Speaker 3: So early antibotics is what's important when you have infections
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  Speaker 3: getting into the bloodstream like this, so that's and the
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  Speaker 3: antibotics that are used generally are very good for this
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  Speaker 3: for these bacteria they do respond rapidly to the right
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  Speaker 3: antibotics well.
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  Speaker 1: Infectious diseases physician at Royal Darwin Hospital, doctor bart Curry.
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  Speaker 1: We always appreciate your time. Thank you very much for
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  Speaker 1: having a chat with us this morning.
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  Speaker 3: No, thank you very much. Thanks again.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you.