Childhood diseases that return after confinement

“Everyone is obviously worried because older children are handling this virus quite well – why aren’t they?” she says.

When Covid-19 swept the world, many countries imposed strict restrictions to prevent the transmission of the virus. Children were kept out of schools and kindergartens for weeks or months. Now that they are mixing again, doctors noticed occasional increases in other illnessesincluding RSV, influenza and diseases caused by Streptococcus group Abacteria also known as strep A.

Fifteen children have died in the UK since September after strep A infection. According to the UK Health Safety Agency (UKHSA), during 2017-2018, the country’s last high season for strep A, there were a total of 27 deaths in under-18s. However, the 2022-23 season is not over yet.

Epidemiologists continue to investigate whether lockdowns related to Covid-19 have increased the likelihood of other diseases, given that respiratory infections were more or less stopped in place during the first year of the pandemic. There is also the possibility that infection with Covid-19 made children more susceptible to other diseases by somehow damaging their immune systems – although doctors say this is unlikely as there is no evidence of such an effect. But what exactly is going on?

For weeks, on routine conference calls with medical colleagues across the country, Ronny Cheung, a consultant pediatrician in London, has heard reports of strep A infections and respiratory viruses causing problems in children. “It was significant,” he says.

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Although strep A, for example, is usually not life-threatening—it can simply cause a sore throat or tonsillitis—in rare cases, it can cause invasive, potentially fatal infections including meningitis.