Illinois DPH: Strep is becoming more deadly

While the Illinois Department of Public Health said Covid-19 infections are on the rise, so is strep throat, and its becoming deadly for children.

The warning comes after two children died after being infected with strep throat in the past month.

OSF Vice President Brian Curtis said strep is somthing that is most often seen in school children, but it is not normally fatal.

"It's not very common to have group A strep cause a mortality. It's very easily treated in the ambulatory setting. If you have a fever, sore throat with swollen glands, that could be strep throat." Curtis said.

Now, the DPH is urging parents with children who have underlying conditions and strep symptoms to get tested, a move Peoria County Coroner Jamie Harwood agrees with.

"It's warranted enough to warn people and say it's our there," Harwood said. "And what I don't want people to belive is it's just strep."

Harwood said he has a child with repiratory conditions, but the infections affects each person differently.

"You can take very, very healthy children, introduce the strep infection to them, and they are going to react differently," Harwood said. "One child might do exceptionally well with the course of antibiotics, one might progress slower. They both might heal and become very healthy. They might progress to something worse."

Harwood said right now if you have a child who shows strep throat-like symptoms, it's best to get them to a doctor as soon as possible.