Two cases of Strep A have been confirmed in pupils at a North East school, as parents have been reassured of the wider risk to children in the region.

St Peter's Elwick C of E School in Hartlepool has revealed that two of its pupils has the bacterial infection and says it is following the advice of Public Health England.

Strep A is a bacteria most commonly found in the throat and nose that can lead to numerous infections such as scarlet fever, tonsillitis and impetigo.

But, in some cases, it can spread to others who may have an increased chance of becoming ill from the infection.

Read more: What are the signs of Strep A infection?

And, tragically over recent weeks, it has been confirmed that nine children in the UK have lost their lives to it.

On Tuesday (December 6), a spokesperson for St Peter's Elwick C of E Primary, said: "We can confirm we have had two pupils who have been confirmed as having Strep A.

"We wrote to our parents yesterday to assure them we are following all advice of public health and asking parents to get a clinical assessment if they are worried about their child's health.

"The health and safety of our pupils is of the utmost importance to us and we will continue to liaise with public health and keep parents informed."

In most cases health issues caused by Strep A are mild and symptoms include:

  • Fever
  • Swollen tonsils
  • Pain when swallowing
  • Tonsils with white patches
  • Swollen neck glands
  • High temperature
  • Skin rash

This comes several days after it was confirmed that Wolsingham School in Bishop Auckland had cases of Scarlet Fever in their community.

Earlier today, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has said that local health protection teams can give antibiotics to groups of children where there has been a Strep A outbreak.

Dr Colin Brown told Sky News there is “long-standing guidance” that enables health protection teams to assess the situation in schools and nurseries to consider antibiotic prophylaxis for “either a group of children in certain classes or an entire nursery school”.

He reiterated there is no evidence to suggest there has been a change to the circulating strains of Strep A to make them more severe, following the deaths of at least nine children across the UK.

The latest death was of Stella-Lilly McCorkindale in Belfast who attended Black Mountain Primary School. The school spoke of its “tragic loss” and said, “the thoughts of the entire school are with the pupil’s family and friends at this difficult time”.

Dr Brown suggested that a lack of mixing due to the Covid pandemic plus susceptibility in children are probably “bringing forward the normal scarlet fever season” from spring to this side of Christmas.

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