Former reality star, Frankie Essex, has opened up about her Strep A fears, admitting that she heard it could affect “children in nappies”.
The bacterial infection is most common in children between the ages of five and 15-years-old.
In the column she pens for OK!, the former The Only Way Is Essex star said that her twin babies, Logan and Luella, were unwell a fortnight ago, before the concerns about the bacteria were prevalent. Luckily, the infants didn’t have a fever, one of the common signs of an infection.
However, since the rise in infection rates and surrounding panic around Group A Streptococcus, Frankie admitted that if the concerns had been around when her babies were unwell, she would have been “s***ing” herself.
Strep A has taken the lives of nine children, who had contracted a rare but severe infection.
The most common symptoms are a sore throat or skin infection, with most cases able to be treated with antibiotics. However, it can sometimes develop into scarlet fever.
On the infection, Frankie said: “I’m worried about this Strep A that’s going around. A few children have died and they say it’s from ages five to 15, but the other day I heard someone say something about children in nappies – and five year olds obviously aren’t in nappies.
“It’s very contagious and the twins have just been ill. The concerns about Strep A weren’t around two weeks ago when they were unwell, and if it was I would have been s***ting myself.”
Frankie clarified that she had checked her children’s temperatures and that neither had a fever.
She gave birth to Logan and Luella in May this year. She shares her children with her partner, Luke Love.
