November 2016 –
A warning has been sent round to homeless hostels and to drug and alcohol services about a rare infection which is spreading in intravenous drug users and homeless people in Bristol and a few other areas in the country.
The infection is a specific type of iGAS (invasive Group A Streptococcus) called ‘emm66‘. Since January 2016, there have been 15 cases nationwide, 6 of which were in Bristol. The symptoms are:
- sore throats or mild skin infections such as impetigo;
- high fever;
- severe muscle aches;
- localised muscle tenderness; and
- redness at the site of a wound.
If you see these symptoms in a vulnerable person, please contact the Health Protection Unit for Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire -telephone 0300 3038162, option 1, option 2 and quote the reference number ‘HPZ170014’.
For more information, please see these two documents: