PHARMACIES are being given more flexibility to tackle Strep A infections sweeping the country.
Demand has soared for penicillin, commonly used to treat these infections — including scarlet fever.
Now ministers have changed rules so pharmacists can legally supply five alternative forms of the medicine if they do not have the exact one stated on a prescription — such as an oral solution.
Three other options were cleared last week. Nineteen UK kids have died from Strep A disease.
UK Health Security Agency chief medical advisor Professor Susan Hopkins, said the vast majority of children affected have a mild illness and has an “open mind” about why there is a spike in cases.
She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “The last bad season we had in 2017 and 18.
“And in invasive Group A Strep cases, we are more than halfway through what we’d normally see in an average season.
“We’ve seen 111 cases in children aged one to four and 74 cases in children aged five to nine.”
