Antibiotics could be given to children at schools affected by Strep A infections, schools minister Nick Gibb says
Antibiotics could be given to children at schools affected by Strep A to stop the spread of the infection, schools minister Nick Gibb has said.
Mr Gibb told Sky News that the UK Health and Security Agency (UKHSA) is “working closely with the schools involved and giving very specific advice to those schools which may involve the use of penicillin”.
He added that health officials will “have more to say about that”.
“They’re providing more general advice to parents, which is to look out for the symptoms – so, sore throat, fever, high temperature and also a red or raised rash on the skin are symptoms of this invasive Strep A outbreak.”
His comments came after the eighth death of a child from the infection.
The idea was first indicated by health minister Lord Markham in the House of Lords on Monday.
The Conservative peer said: “We have given instructions to doctors that where necessary they should be proactively prescribing penicillin as the best line of defence on this, and also where there is a spread in primary schools, which we know is the primary vector for this, whether they should be working with local health protection teams, and sometimes actually look at the use of antibiotics on a prophylactic basis.”
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Overnight, the i newspaper reported that penicillin or an alternative antibiotic is to be given to all children in a year group that have been hit by a case of Strep A – even if they do not have symptoms.
GPs generally avoid mass prescription of antibiotics as it can build up resistance to serious infections in the population.
But the paper quotes health officials as confirming the plan and saying isolation among children during the pandemic may have contributed to them having reduced immunity.
The UK Health Security Agency told the PA news agency the measure of prescribing antibiotics to children in a school or nursery exposed to non-invasive Strep A was “rare”.
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What is Strep A?
The agency added the move is only considered in “exceptional circumstances” by the Outbreak Control Team (OCT) on a “case-by-case basis”.
“There is no good evidence of (antibiotics’) effectiveness in routine outbreak control in this setting (involving children who have been contacts of non-invasive Strep A),” UKHSA said.
“It can be considered in exceptional circumstances by the OCT, for example when there are reports of severe outcomes, or hospitalisations.
“In school and nursery settings, antibiotic chemoprophylaxis is not routinely recommended for contacts of non-invasive (Group A streptococcus) GAS infection.”
Asked about the recent rise in cases on Monday, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s official spokesman said: “We are seeing a higher number of cases of Group A strep this year compared to usual.
“The bacteria we know causes a mild infection which is easily treated with antibiotics and in rare circumstances it can get into the bloodstream and cause serious illness.
“It is still uncommon but it’s important parents are on the lookout for symptoms.”
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Strep A outbreak in charts
Strep A infections are usually mild and can be easily treated with antibiotics.
Illnesses caused by the Group A strep bacteria include the skin infection impetigo, scarlet fever and strep throat.
There has been a big leap in the number of scarlet fever cases.
There were 851 cases reported from 14 to 20 November, compared to an average of 186 for the same timeframe in previous years.
Symptoms of scarlet fever include sore throat, headache and fever, along with a fine, pinkish or red body rash with a “sandpapery” feel.
On darker skin, the rash can be harder to see but will still be “sandpapery”.
The lawyer of a high-profile Gazan doctor detained by Israel since last December has spoken of her shock over his condition after being allowed a rare visit to see him in jail.
Ghaid Qassem has told Sky News that Dr Hussam Abu Safiya – the director of the Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza – survives on very little food, including two spoonfuls of rice a day and has lost a third of his body weight. She said he has been subjected to severe beatings.
“As a young woman, seeing an older man – a respected doctor like Hussam Abu Safiya – broken in front of me, degraded, surrounded by prison guards, in the worst possible condition, how am I supposed to feel?” she said.
“The conditions of his detention are extremely harsh, inhumane, with continuous assaults.
“This is the sixth time he has been brutally attacked.
“The most recent incident was on 24 June 24, which coincided with the end of Israel‘s war with Iran and the strike on Soroka Hospital in Beersheba [Israel].
“It seems the prison authorities decided to take revenge. They raided Abu Safiya’s cell and began assaulting him.
“He was beaten, sustaining bruises on his head, neck, and back. Afterwards, he requested medical treatment because he felt abnormal heartbeats, but his request was denied.”
Dr Hussam Abu Safiya (centre) with his colleagues. Pic: Dr Eid Sabbah, Kamal Adwan Hospital
Ghaid Qassem
It is thought that since his detention Dr Abu Safiya has been held at a number of Israeli jails.
His lawyer said she was allowed access to meet with him at Ofer prison, near Jerusalem.
Ms Qassem said there was no proper healthcare or hygiene and it is claimed the paediatrician is being held in an underground cell.
“They can’t shower, their clothes aren’t replaced, not even underwear,” she said. “Scabies is rampant, skin diseases are widespread and the most basic medical attention is only given when they see you’re on the verge of death.”
Dr Abu Safiya was last seen in Gaza, wearing his white doctor’s coat as he walked through the rubble outside his hospital towards an Israeli tank in December 2024.
This is believed to be one of the last sightings of Dr Hussam Abu Safiya before he was detained
Before then he had become a well-known voice and face of the Kamal Adwan hospital, sharing videos about the siege of the medical facility and explaining how staff were struggling to continue working under Israeli bombardment.
The hospital has since been forced to close down.
Oneg Ben Dror, from Physicians for Human Rights Israel, told Sky News they believe Dr Abu Safiya is one of more than a 100 medical professionals from Gaza currently being detained in Israeli jails.
Oneg Ben Dror, from Physicians for Human Rights Israel
She said: “We know that more than 250 health care workers were arrested since the start of the war on Gaza.
“Part of them were released, and more than 100 are still detained. We have their names, and we managed to visit dozens of them while in detention.
“All those we met weren’t charged officially with any offence.
“We asked them about the interrogation and all of them said the questions they were asked weren’t about them or a specific offence.
“It was more information gathering about their workplace and people they knew and this is against international law arresting them while doing their job and holding them for intelligence gathering and as bargaining chips for a potential deal.”
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Doctors on the frontline
A spokesperson for the Israel Prison Service (IPS) said: “All prisoners are detained according to the law. All basic rights required are fully applied by professionally trained prison guards.
“We are not aware of the claims you described, and as far as we know, no such events have occurred under IPS responsibility.
“Nonetheless, prisoners and detainees have the right to file a complaint that will be fully examined and addressed by official authorities.”
Dr Abu Safiya’s colleague, Dr Eid Sabbah, head of the nursing department at Kamal Adwan Hospital, told Sky News more than 30 medical staff from the hospital have been killed during the conflict.
Dr Hussam Abu Safiya and Dr Eid Sabbah, worked together in Gaza. Pic: Dr Eid Sabbah, Kamal Adwan Hospital
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He said: “We pray to God to give Dr Abu Safiya strength, to ease his suffering soon, and to see him free – just like the rest of our people, our patients, our wounded, and all the doctors who were detained from this hospital.
“He is in a very difficult situation. The news we are hearing is troubling and far from reassuring.
“He was the kind of doctor who took bold stands for his colleague. At the same time, he never abandoned his patients, even under extreme pressure.
“Despite calls urging him to evacuate the hospital for his own safety, he refused to leave. He stayed by his patients’ sides, fully committed to serving them – especially the children, the elderly, the women, and the injured.”
An aid worker in the central Gaza Strip has told Sky News the food situation in the enclave is “absolutely desperate” and “the worst it’s ever been”.
Her comments to Sky’s chief presenter Mark Austin come amid fresh international outcry over Israel’s restrictions on aid, as the UK has joined together with 24 other countries to say: “The war in Gaza must end now.”
Rachael Cummings, humanitarian director for Save The Children, is in Deir al Balah, a city in central Gaza where tens of thousands of people have sought refuge during repeated waves of mass displacement.
Middle East latest: Key points from UK statement on Gaza
She said: “One of my colleagues said to me yesterday, ‘We are all walking together towards death’. And this is the situation now for people in Gaza.
“There is no food for their children, it’s absolutely desperate here.”
Palestinians gather to receive food from a charity kitchen. Pic: Reuters
“The markets are empty,” she said. “People may even have cash in their pockets yet they cannot buy bread [or] vegetables.
“My team have said to me, ‘There’s nothing in my house to feed my children, my children are crying all day, every day.”
Israel launched a ground assault on Deir al Balah on Monday morning, another charity said earlier.
Smoke rises during strikes amid the Israeli operation in Deir al Balah. Pic: Reuters
Ms Cummings’s comments came as the UK and 24 other nations issued a joint statement calling for a ceasefire.
The statement criticised aid distribution in Gaza, which is being managed by a US and Israel-backed organisation, Gaza Health Foundation.
“The Israeli government’s aid delivery model is dangerous, fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity,” it said.
The 25 countries also called for the “immediate and unconditional release” of hostages captured by Hamas during the 7 October 2023 attacks.
Lammy promises £40m for Gaza aid
Foreign Secretary David Lammy later promised £40m for humanitarian assistance in Gaza.
He told MPs: “We are leading diplomatic efforts to show that there must be a viable pathway to a Palestinian state involving the Palestinian Authority, not Hamas, in the security and governance of the area.
“Hamas can have no role in the governance of Gaza, nor use it as a launchpad for terrorism.”
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Lammy: ‘There must be a viable pathway to a Palestinian state’
Addressing the foreign secretaries’ joint written statement, charity worker Liz Allcock – who works for Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) in Gaza – told Sky News: “While we welcome this, there have been statements in the past 21 months and nothing has changed.
“In fact, things have only got worse. And every time we think it can’t get worse, it does.”
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“Without a reversal of the siege, the lack of supplies, the constant bombardment, the forced displacement, the killing, the militarisation of aid, we are going to collapse as a humanitarian response,” she said.
“And this would do a grave injustice to the 2.2 million people we’re trying to serve.
“An immediate and permanent ceasefire, and avenues for accountability in line with international law, is the minimum people here deserve.”
The war in Gaza started in response to Hamas’s attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, which killed 1,200 people and saw about 250 taken hostage.
More than 59,000 Palestinians have since been killed, with more than half being women and children, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count.
In recent weeks hundreds of Palestinians have reportedly been killed while waiting for food and aid.
The Israeli military has blamed Hamas militants for fomenting chaos and endangering civilians.
At least 19 people have died after a Bangladesh air force plane crashed into a college campus, the military said.
The aircraft crashed into the campus of Milestone School and College in Uttara, in the northern area of the capital Dhaka, where students were taking tests or attending regular classes.
The pilot was one of the people killed, and, according to the military, 164 were injured in the incident.
The Bangladesh military’s public relations department added that the aircraft was an F-7 BGI, and had taken off at 1.06pm local time before crashing shortly after.
Video shows fire and smoke rising from the crash site, with hundreds looking on.
Pics: Reuters
The cause of the crash was not immediately clear.
Bengali-language daily newspaper Prothom Alo said that most of the injured were students with burn injuries.
Pics: Reuters
Citing the duty officer at the fire service control room, Prothom Alo also reported that the plane had crashed on the roof of the college canteen.
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Rafiqa Taha, a 16-year-old student at the school who was not present at the time of the crash, told the Associated Press that the school has around 2,000 students.
“I was terrified watching videos on TV,” she added. “My God! It’s my school.”
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