Canada is seeing a record number of cases of invasive Group A strep, a bacterial infection that kills roughly one in 10 people who contract it, according to data obtained by CBC News.
More than 4,600 cases were confirmed in 2023 at the National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg, an increase of more than 40 per cent over the previous yearly high, in 2019, says the Public Health Agency of Canada.
This trend emerges as a new report from Public Health Ontario shows six children have died of invasive Group A strep in the province since October.
Over the final three months of 2023, the number of cases in Ontario and hospitalizations from the disease were nearly double those during the same time period the previous year, says the report.
That’s prompting warnings from public health officials and medical experts about the potential severity of the disease.
“Whenever you see invasive group A strep, you have to be worried because usually the patient is quite sick,” said Dr. Donald Vinh, head of infectious diseases at McGill University Health Centre in Montreal.
“This is a serious infection and a potentially deadly one,” Vinh said in an interview.
Dr. Donald Vinh is an infectious diseases specialist and medical microbiologist at the McGill University Health Centre in Montreal. He describes invasive Group A strep as ‘a serious infection and a potentially deadly one.’ (Submitted by Sandra Sciangula)
Invasive Group A streptococcal disease happens when the common strep A bacteria spreads beyond the places it typically infects (such as the throat or skin) into sterile parts of the body, such as the bloodstream or the liquid around the brain, or into soft tissue, where it can cause necrotizing fasciitis, known as flesh-eating disease.
The latest report from Public Health Ontario on invasive Group A strep tallies 48 deaths from October to December, including six among children aged nine or younger.
Increases highest in older adults, younger children
“We’re monitoring this very closely,” said Dr. Liane Macdonald, a public health physician in the agency’s health protection section.
“We’ve seen an increase in both adults and kids and the rates are highest in older adults 65 and older as well as younger children,” Macdonald said in an interview. “Of course, we’re trying to learn and understand why this disease is increasing.”
Dr. Brian Conway, medical director of the Vancouver Infectious Diseases Centre, describes the Ontario figures as very concerning.
“We need to understand why it happened, compare what’s going on in Ontario to what we’re seeing in the rest of the world and design a strategy to address it,” Conway said in an interview.
Severe strep A infections are on the rise
Doctors say they’re seeing significantly more invasive strep A infections, caused by a bacteria that usually leads to milder illnesses. But in some cases it can enter the bloodstream and quickly become deadly.
Ontario’s data show roughly three-quarters of people with a confirmed case of invasive Group A strep end up admitted to hospital. In the years leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic, around 10 per cent of cases resulted in death, although the rate differs among different age groups, tending to be higher in seniors.
There were 222 cases reported in December, more than in any month on record in Ontario.
Elsewhere in Canada:
B.C.’s Centre for Disease Control announced in December that the province is experiencing higher levels of infections compared to historical averages, particularly among children.
Quebec reported a 55 per cent increase in infections last year over its pre-pandemic average, and Montreal public health officials issued an alert after two children died in late 2022.
Manitoba reported 200 confirmed cases last year, 50 more than in 2022.
New Brunswick averaged six deaths per year before 2022, but saw 10 deaths in 2023 and has already reported two deaths this year.
About a year ago, the World Health Organization flagged a spike in cases and deaths across Europe, around the same time as a similar alert from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
Dr. Liane Macdonald is a physician in the health protection section of Public Health Ontario. The agency reported 222 cases of invasive Group A strep in the province in December, more than in any previous month on record. (Craig Chivers/CBC)
‘I didn’t want to be a burden’
Quin Henderson, a five-year-old girl from Kitchener, Ont., died of infectious Group A strep in March, just 12 hours after her parents brought her to hospital.
Quin’s mother, Christina Hecktus, spoke to CBC News about her death “to tell other parents how fast it can be, and how invasive, and how devastating.”
Hecktus said she could not believe how quickly it happened.
“My daughter was sitting watching a movie, having a conversation with her nurses, and not six hours later she was gone,” Hecktus said.
Just three days earlier, Quin had a cough and seemed lethargic. She developed a fever the next day. Hecktus checked in by phone with her doctor and the province’s telehealth line, but says no one advised her to bring her daughter in for testing or treatment. On the third day of fever, when Quin’s breathing became shallow and her lethargy worsened, Hecktus took her to hospital.
Christina Hecktus holds a photo of her daughter Quin, who died a few days short of her sixth birthday of invasive Group A streptococcal disease. (Pelin Sidki/CBC)
“I didn’t want to be a burden on the system. I didn’t want to be that hypochondriac parent who takes them to the emergency room, thinking it’s just the sniffles,” said Hecktus.
“I regret that, every moment of the last nine months,” she said, her voice quivering with emotion.
Symptoms to watch for
Dr. Susy Hota, division head for infectious diseases at University Health Network in Toronto, says it can be a challenge for people to tell the difference between less serious infections and invasive Group A strep.
“If you have a severe sore throat without a cough or other cold or upper respiratory tract infection symptoms, if you have fever with it, if you’re feeling generally quite unwell with these symptoms, then seek medical attention,” said Hota in an interview.
Dr. Anna Banerji, a pediatrician and infectious disease specialist at University of Toronto, says parents can take their children to a family doctor or other primary care provider to be tested for strep infection so that it can be treated before becoming invasive.
Banerji says some of the signs that could indicate a strep infection include a very sore throat, a fine, sandpaper-like rash on the skin, extreme lethargy and fever. She says a runny nose and sneezing rarely indicate a case of strep.
“We don’t need to have parents panic more than they’re already panicking with COVID and other viruses and RSV,” Banerji said in an interview.
While the Ontario data clearly shows notable increases in invasive Group A strep, what’s far from clear is why it’s happening.
COVID and other infections may play a role
Macdonald said there are “many possible factors,” adding that multiple strains of the bacteria have been identified among the cases in Ontario.
Vinh says the trajectory of the COVID-19 pandemic may be playing a role.
“With the return of normal social activities, you now have people who otherwise have lower collective protective immunity now being exposed to a strain or strains that may be easily transmissable,” he said.
Dr. Susy Hota, division head for infectious diseases at University Health Network in Toronto, says it can be a challenge for people to tell the difference between less serious infections and invasive Group A strep. (Craig Chivers/CBC)
Conway sees evidence of a link to recent increases in other infections such as COVID-19, RSV and influenza. He said three children who died recently in B.C. of invasive Group A strep all came down with it along with the flu.
“This is an example of what can happen if we don’t attend to things promptly,” Conway said, urging people to seek treatment if they have a severe throat infection, a skin infection that is getting worse or a high fever that isn’t going away.
“There are very effective antibiotics that can treat strep, and the sooner you get them, the better the outcome,” he said.
Ontario’s chief medical officer of health, Dr. Kieran Moore, told health care providers in a December memo that invasive Group A strep is commonly associated with co-infection with influenza, chickenpox or COVID-19, and emphasized the importance of being vaccinated against the viruses that cause those diseases.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A linebacker at Division II West Virginia State was fatally shot during what the university said Thursday is being investigated by police as a home invasion.
The body of Jyilek Zyiare Harrington, 21, of Charlotte, North Carolina, was found inside an apartment Wednesday night in Charleston, police Lt. Tony Hazelett said in a statement.
Hazelett said several gunshots were fired during a disturbance in a hallway and inside the apartment. The statement said Harrington had multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said they had no information on a possible suspect.
West Virginia State said counselors were available to students and faculty on campus.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with Jyilek’s family as they mourn the loss of this incredible young man,” West Virginia State President Ericke S. Cage said in a letter to students and faculty.
Harrington, a senior, had eight total tackles, including a sack, in a 27-24 win at Barton College last week.
“Jyilek truly embodied what it means to be a student-athlete and was a leader not only on campus but in the community,” West Virginia State Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics Nate Burton said. “Jyilek was a young man that, during Christmas, would create a GoFundMe to help less fortunate families.”
Burton said donations to a fund established by the athletic department in Harrington’s memory will be distributed to an organization in Charlotte to continue his charity work.
West Virginia State’s home opener against Carson-Newman, originally scheduled for Thursday night, has been rescheduled to Friday, and a private vigil involving both teams was set for Thursday night. Harrington previously attended Carson-Newman, where he made seven tackles in six games last season. He began his college career at Division II Erskine College.
“Carson-Newman joins West Virginia State in mourning the untimely passing of former student-athlete Jyilek Harrington,” Carson-Newman Vice President of Athletics Matt Pope said in a statement. “The Harrington family and the Yellow Jackets’ campus community is in our prayers. News like this is sad to hear anytime, but today it feels worse with two teams who knew him coming together to play.”
DETROIT (AP) — Joe Schmidt, the Hall of Fame linebacker who helped the Detroit Lions win NFL championships in 1953 and 1957 and later coached the team, has died. He was 92.
The Lions said family informed the team Schmidt died Wednesday. A cause of death was not provided.
One of pro football’s first great middle linebackers, Schmidt played his entire NFL career with the Lions from 1953-65. An eight-time All-Pro, he was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1973 and the college football version in 2000.
“Joe likes to say that at one point in his career, he was 6-3, but he had tackled so many fullbacks that it drove his neck into his shoulders and now he is 6-foot,” said the late Lions owner William Clay Ford, Schmidt’s presenter at his Hall of Fame induction in 1973. “At any rate, he was listed at 6-feet and as I say was marginal for that position. There are, however, qualities that certainly scouts or anybody who is drafting a ballplayer cannot measure.”
Born in Pittsburgh, Schmidt played college football in his hometown at Pitt, beginning his stint there as a fullback and guard before coach Len Casanova switched him to linebacker.
“Pitt provided me with the opportunity to do what I’ve wanted to do, and further myself through my athletic abilities,” Schmidt said. “Everything I have stemmed from that opportunity.”
Schmidt dealt with injuries throughout his college career and was drafted by the Lions in the seventh round in 1953. As defenses evolved in that era, Schmidt’s speed, savvy and tackling ability made him a valuable part of some of the franchise’s greatest teams.
Schmidt was elected to the Pro Bowl 10 straight years from 1955-64, and after his arrival, the Lions won the last two of their three NFL titles in the 1950s.
In a 1957 playoff game at San Francisco, the Lions trailed 27-7 in the third quarter before rallying to win 31-27. That was the NFL’s largest comeback in postseason history until Buffalo rallied from a 32-point deficit to beat Houston in 1993.
“We just decided to go after them, blitz them almost every down,” Schmidt recalled. “We had nothing to lose. When you’re up against it, you let both barrels fly.”
Schmidt became an assistant coach after wrapping up his career as a player. He was Detroit’s head coach from 1967-72, going 43-35-7.
Schmidt was part of the NFL’s All-Time Team revealed in 2019 to celebrate the league’s centennial season. Of course, he’d gone into the Hall of Fame 46 years earlier.
Not bad for an undersized seventh-round draft pick.
“It was a dream of mine to play football,” Schmidt told the Detroit Free Press in 2017. “I had so many people tell me that I was too small. That I couldn’t play. I had so many negative people say negative things about me … that it makes you feel good inside. I said, ‘OK, I’ll prove it to you.’”
VICTORIA – British Columbia’s Environment Assessment Office has fined Coastal GasLink Pipeline Ltd. $590,000 for “deficiencies” in the construction of its pipeline crossing the province.
The office says in a statement that 10 administrative penalties have been levied against the company for non-compliance with requirements of its environmental assessment certificate.
It says the fines come after problems with erosion and sediment control measures were identified by enforcement officers along the pipeline route across northern B.C. in April and May 2023.
The office says that the latest financial penalties reflect its escalation of enforcement due to repeated non-compliance of its requirements.
Four previous penalties have been issued for failing to control erosion and sediment valued at almost $800,000, while a fifth fine of $6,000 was handed out for providing false or misleading information.
The office says it prioritized its inspections along the 670-kilometre route by air and ground as a result of the continued concerns, leading to 59 warnings and 13 stop-work orders along the pipeline that has now been completed.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
