-Caveat Lector-
March 24, 1999
BY JOEL THURTELL
Detroit Free Press Staff Writer
Every year, millions of people get strep throat and
live.
But for 9-year-old Tia Coleman, strep throat led
to death.
Medical officials have confirmed that the bronchial
pneumonia that caused Tia's death was brought on
by a streptococcus group A bacterial infection in
her blood, said Dr. Carolyn Bird, director of the
Oakland County Health Department.
While invasive strep A infections of the
bloodstream are uncommon, they can be
dangerous. They can attack lungs, bones, joints
and the brain, said Dr. Basim Asmar, director of
the division of Infectious Diseases at Children's
Hospital of Michigan in Detroit. The infection is
contagious.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
in Atlanta reports between 10,000 and 15,000
invasive strep A cases a year in the United States,
with 2,000 deaths.
Tia was a fourth-grader at West Maple
Elementary School in Bloomfield Hills, where
Birmingham public school officials Tuesday sent a
letter home to parents assuring them that "no other
cases have been reported in the school district."
Bird said county health officials are monitoring
Birmingham schools for signs of other invasive
strep A cases.
The school letter warns that parents should seek
medical treatment if they "notice fever, sore throat
or other respiratory symptoms in their children."
Strep normally is treated with penicillin, Asmar
said.
There were fewer cases of invasive strep A in
southeast Michigan this winter. Between Jan. 1
and March 5, there were 17 cases of invasive
strep A reported in the counties of Livingston,
Macomb, Monroe, Oakland, St. Clair,
Washtenaw and Wayne. That was less than half of
the 37 cases in 1998 and 38 cases in 1998 for the
same period, said Dr. Donald Lawrenchuk,
director of the Wayne County Health Department.
Sometimes a person with strep throat or impetigo,
a strep skin infection, may infect themselves, Bird
said. Cuts, wounds or chicken pox sores can
provide strep bacteria with an open door to the
normally protected bloodstream.
In the past 10 years, about 40 cases of invasive
strep A have been successfully treated at
Children's Hospital, Asmar said.
People with cancer, diabetes or kidney disease or
those who take steroids are more likely to have an
invasive infection, the CDC said.
"We emphasize hand-washing and use of Kleenex
when you're coughing and sneezing," Bird said.
Joel Thurtell can be reached at
1-248-586-2609
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