Toronto Public Health is reassuring parents after a child who attended a Leslieville daycare centre died from an infection caused by the same bacteria that causes strep throat and tonsillitis.

The three-year-old boy passed away on Jan. 17. According to a family friend, he died within days of exhibiting the first symptoms of the disease.

In a letter sent out to parents of the Queen Street and Coxwell Avenue area daycare Jan. 22, Toronto’s Associate Medical Officer of Health Dr. Irene Armtrong said the infection was caused by the Group A Streptococcus (GAS) bacteria, a germ often found in the nose, throat or skin of healthy people.

Armstrong said the same bacteria is responsible for skin infections (impetigo), scarlet fever and tonsillitis. However, on rare occasions, it can also cause more severe illness such as toxic shock and necrotizing fasciitis, also known as flesh-eating disease.

The disease is passed from individual to individual via respiratory secretions.

According to Toronto Public Health, the risk of contracting the invasive form of the bacteria from a healthy person is low, however those who live in the same house as an infected person or who have close contact with them may be at increased risk.

Severe invasive GAS disease can result when the bacteria are found in the blood, fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord, or in the linings of muscles and joints.

Symptoms that may indicate severe invasive GAS include:

  • Necrotizing fasciitis and myositis: fever, severe pain, swelling and/or redness of part of the body
  • Meningitis: fever, headache, severe neck pain, nausea, and or vomiting
  • Streptococcal toxic shock syndrome: fever, a general feeling of unwellness, dizziness, confusion and/or a flat, red rash on the body.

While the death is disturbing, infectious disease specialist Dr. Neil Rau said contracting a similar infection is so unusual it’s akin to ‘being struck by lightning.’

“I think the most important thing for parents to know is that this is really rare,” Rau said.

Rau said the disease often strikes when there is some previous illness or injury that allows it to enter the body, but it’s generally difficult to guard against or detect until it’s too late.

“There’s really nothing one can do,” Rau said. “If I told people to start washing their hands more or to stay home when they’re sick, that would not actually solve the risk or reduce the risk of something really rare like this.

“The horrible part of the story is that you have a kid who was perfectly healthy a day or two before and within 24 or 48 hours can go from being perfectly healthy to killed by this infection.”

Toronto Public Health said preventative antibiotics are sometimes recommended, but only in cases of very close contact where there is deemed to be an increased risk of infection.

The agency is advising those who had contact with the child to monitor themselves for symptoms that may present within 30 days of contact. Those who exhibit symptoms are advised to seek medical attention and to tell the doctor that they have been exposed to a person who was recently diagnosed with invasive GAS.

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