Four Children With Strep A Have Died in BC in the Past Month, Disease Centre Says

An electron microscope image shows Group A Streptococcus in orange. The Canadian Press/AP-NIAID via AP

Four children under the age of 10 who had streptococcal infections have died since mid-December, in what the BC Centre for Disease Control says is part of a surge in such infections.

A bulletin released by the centre, the Provincial Health Services Authority, and BC Children’s Hospital says data from 2023 show a three-fold increase in invasive group A streptococcal infections in people under 20.