HPR volume 10 issue 16: news (6 May)
Updated 16 December 2016
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1. Group A streptococcal infections: fourth update on seasonal activity, 2015/16 (in summary)
Although scarlet fever notifications in most areas of England remain elevated compared with the same period last year, since Easter the declining rate of notifications indicates that the season’s peak has passed, according to the fourth update on seasonal group A streptococcus activity published in this issue of HPR [1].
The graph below compares latest surveillance data for both scarlet fever and invasive group A streptococcal (iGAS) infection (set against comparable data from previous seasons), indicating that the scarlet fever season appears to have peaked in England in the last two weeks of March.
In the current season to week 17 of 2016:
- a total of 12,906 scarlet fever notifications had been made, with notifications peaking in week 12 (1400 notifications)
- a total of 1333 reports of iGAS disease had been notified through routine laboratory surveillance, 45% higher than the average for the same period in the previous five years (922 reports; range 770-1054).
Weekly scarlet fever and iGAS notifications in England, 2010/11 onwards (Dashed lines are values that may increase as further notifications are received.)
Geographical variation in iGAS infection notification rates were seen across England, with all but one of 15 English regions reporting higher than average iGAS cases so far this season. The areas with the highest population rates to date are Devon, Cornwall & Somerset (3.9 per 100,000 population), Yorkshire & Humber (3.7/100,000), and the North East (3.4).
The full report includes information from emm strain diversity testing and antimicrobial susceptibility data.
1.1 Reference
- PHE. Group A streptococcal infections: fourth update on activity during the 2015/16 season..
2. Vaccine coverage and vaccine-preventable disease reports in this issue of HPR
The following vaccine coverage report and three vaccine preventable disease reports are published in this issue of HPR. The links below are to the relevant webpage collections.