Nova Scotia Health is seeing a spike in death in recent months from an aggressive form of strep A. Another family is speaking out to warn about the signs and symptoms, after their parents died within hours of each other. Zack Power reports.Two sisters are warning the public about an invasive form of strep after their mother and step-father died from the disease on the same day earlier this year.
Jeffery, who accompanied his wife to the hospital, began developing symptoms the next day and was admitted to hospital. That night, Public Health informed Sammi and Meta that their parents had strep A. The sisters were put on antibiotics as a precaution.‘Something has to change’: Mother fights for better addiction care after son’s death“By Sunday morning at 10 a.m., our step-dad was coding, and they were losing mom,” Meta said. “So within two hours, we lost them both.
There were five deaths in the province last year — all over the age of 55 — and 94 reported cases. Illness rates are highest among children under five and adults aged 65 and up. “It’s challenging for clinicians trying to determine, ‘Is this something that is a common respiratory illness, or is this something that’s more worrisome?'” he said.