6 Children Die in Ontario of Invasive Strep A, Disease on the Rise in Canada

Six children under the age of 10 have died of invasive group A streptococcus (iGAS) in Ontario since October, according to the province’s public health agency. The number of cases and hospitalizations from the disease between October and December of last year was nearly twice as high as those during the same time period in 2022, Public Health Ontario said in a recently released report. Of the 540 cases reported among all age groups during the final three months of last year, 412 required hospitalization and 48 died. That compares to 309 cases in 2022 when there were 228 hospitalizations and 44 deaths. The majority of the deaths between October and December last year were in children aged four and younger making up 46.3 percent of all fatal cases....