CDC says surge of severe strep in kids was a return to pre-pandemic levels

Last year's increase in severe strep infections in children amounted only to a return to levels of the disease from before the COVID-19 pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported last week, based on early figures from 2022. 

The new figures come after a health alert published in December warned doctors and health authorities that some hospitals and states had tracked rising infections of invasive group A streptococcal (iGAS) in kids. 

However, in an update published Feb. 2, the CDC wrote that "based on preliminary 2022 data, iGAS infections in children have returned to levels similar to those seen in pre-pandemic years."