Second hospital death attributed to strep

A second hospital death in a week is being attributed to a very invasive form of streptococcal disease that infects the respiratory tract.

According to reports on Tuesday, the bacteria has been confirmed as the cause of death of a 28-year-old man in Thessaloniki, northern Greece, last week.

On Monday, meanwhile, an autopsy confirmed that a nine-year-old girl who died in Oresteiada, also in the north, had contracted the same disease.

Both appear to have died of invasive group A streptococcal disease (known as iGAS).

The 28-year-old was a native of Larissa and worked in Thessaloniki. He had been ill for several weeks before his health suddenly deteriorated and he had to be hospitalized, his brother told the local website Tirnavos Press.

According to the National Organization of Public Health (EODY), 22 people have died of iGAS since the start of 2023 and until January 11 of this year. Of them, 10 were children under the age of nine.