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  • 2019-03-20 (xsd:date)
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  • Does a Form of Strep Throat Infect the Face and Nasal Cavity? (en)
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  • On 26 February 2019, an Idaho couple shared a cautionary tale on Facebook that had garnered over one million shares by the time of this reporting. The post detailed a strange mark on their son’s face and the ultimate diagnosis of a form of strep throat that infects the sinuses: It is true that a form of strep throat is capable of infecting the nasal passage, sinuses, face, and even other organs. Clinically known as invasive Group A Streptococcal Disease, or iGAS, it occurs when the bacteria responsible for common strep throat infect other organ systems or the bloodstream, as described by the Middlesex-London Health Unit of London, Ontario, which experienced an outbreak of iGAS cases in 2017: In its most severe form iGAS can result in life-threatening conditions, including necrotizing fasciitis (commonly known as a flesh-eating disease), myositis and myonecrosis (muscle inflammation and a muscle eating disease, respectively) and Streptococcal Toxic Shock Syndrome (StrepTSS), which can lead to total organ failure. Though it is extremely rare, when the latter occurs a person is at extreme risk and requires medical treatment immediately, as described by Canada’s Globe and Mail in response to the 2017 outbreak: When strep A gets into tissue or bone — usually because a person has an open wound — it can turn deadly, and quickly. In a matter of hours, an infected person can go from having a mild fever to having flesh-eating bacteria spreading so relentlessly that the only way to stop the infection is by amputating limbs. iGAS infections often occur in clusters and affect groups more likely to be immunocompromised, but more recent research suggests that adults and children of any age and in any medical condition can contract the disease. Nevertheless, severe iGAS infections remain quite rare, as described in the 2016 book Streptococcus Pyogenes: Basic Biology to Clinical Manifestations: In the case of the Idaho family, iGAS was diagnosed in time, and the pictured boy was reportedly recovering well. (en)
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