The Department of Public Health reported Tuesday that a five-year-old child died from the bacteria.
Álvaro Gagliana, director of the Pereira Russell Pediatric Hospital, spoke on Wednesday about a streptococcal outbreak among a group of people at a school in Montevideo that resulted in the death of a five-year-old child.
“This is not a health alert. I don’t think there is a health alert in the education community either, just a warning. We have to remember that strep infections occur more frequently, it’s a relatively normal occurrence and in the spring it’s normal for the numbers to increase .cases of strep throat,” Gagliana explained.
In this sense, he explained that the symptoms are “similar” to those of bacterial pharyngitis. “Viral symptoms are accompanied by coughing, runny nose, sneezing, difficulty speaking, which are associated with respiratory viral infections. Bacterial symptoms usually correspond to older children (school children, preschoolers), sudden pain in the throat and when swallowing, and sometimes headache and fever. Additionally, a rash may occur,” he noted.
In turn, he noted that skin that is “pink and scratchy to the touch” is diagnostic of scarlet fever or strep throat. “This usually resolves completely with antibiotics for seven to 10 days, and they are not drug-resistant bacteria,” he added.
Streptococcus outbreak in Montevideo school kills five-year-old boy
Regarding the serious case that occurred in Pereira Rosell, Gagliana commented that the child had a red throat that looked like scarlet fever, but he also had pneumonia. He said: “Pulmonary pneumonia and pleural effusion caused by this bacteria can indeed be serious. Although the correct antibiotic treatment was started in the hospital, the disease progressed faster and he did not survive.”
Galiana assured that the case was “absolutely exceptional.” “Sometimes the number of respiratory infections is higher and special cases may increase and increase even more, but this is definitely an exception. This child had a severe systemic streptococcal infection,” he concluded.
Junior Technical Inspector Ivonne Constantino reported that eight confirmed cases of children were being treated for scarlet fever, a disease caused by strep bacteria. Most are primary education students from Montevideo.
Seven of the children were from Montevideo and one from the rural area of Colonia. There are seven students in primary education, one of whom is in second grade. All cases are mild and are being treated with antibiotics.