Our quarterly update

This release by Public Health Scotland (PHS) provides quarterly information on Group A Streptococcal (GAS) infections.

In Scotland, GAS infections are monitored using routine laboratory data.

Under the Public Health (Scotland) Act 2008, cases of invasive GAS (iGAS) are notifiable but scarlet fever is not notifiable in Scotland.

Culture and PCR-positive GAS and iGAS specimens from all laboratories in Scotland are submitted to PHS using the Electronic Communication of Surveillance in Scotland (ECOSS) system.  

GAS infections are classified as invasive if they have been isolated by culture or accredited molecular methods (such as PCR) from a normally sterile body site, such as:

• blood
• cerebrospinal fluid
• joint aspirate
• pericardial peritoneal-pleural fluids
• bone
• endometrium
• deep tissue or deep abscess at operation or post-mortem

An iGAS-related death is defined as death (from all causes) within seven days of a positive iGAS specimen. PHS actively follows up outcomes for all reported cases after 30 days to make sure they are captured. 

iGAS cases are also reported to PHS using an enhanced surveillance questionnaire, which provides further information on risk factors and outcomes.

Invasive GAS samples are also sent to the Scottish Microbiology Reference Laboratory (SMiRL) for further analysis and typing.

Next release

The next release of this publication will be 26 November 2024.