Children’s streptococcal infections rise

Medical experts are expressing concern over indications that there has been an upsurge of streptococcal infections in children. The disease may not be systematically recorded in Greece, but pediatricians estimate that they have seen more cases this year compared to the pre-pandemic period.

"The incidents of streptococcal pharyngitis usually peak in the winter months and early spring. However, our feeling from the visits we receive from young patients is that for the last few months we have been seeing cases at a higher frequency than in the pre-Covid-19 period," said the president of the Panhellenic Federation of Self-Employed Pediatricians, Konstantinos Daloukas.

Most cases, he said, are "simple pharyngitis, and we are also seeing cases of scarlet fever this season." Group A streptococcus is the most common cause of bacterial pharyngitis in children. In rare cases,...