Parents have been warned not to “waste” their money on Strep A tests that can be bought online instead of seeking medical advice, after it emerged some are being sold for more than £100.
The tests, which are not available through the NHS in England but are in Wales for £7.50, have been in demand following the death of at least 16 children from the invasive bacterial infection.
The kits, which are similar to a PCR test, are being sold by online retailers for as much as £80 or £100, though some have reportedly sold out amid the rise in demand.
One London GP has hit out at the general high price from some online retailers, branding it a “money-making scheme”.
Dr Zoe Watson, a London-based locum GP and founder of social enterprise platform, Wellgood Wellbeing, told The Telegraph: “I certainly wouldn’t advise buying a test online or getting a private £80 strep test,” as patients with the infection would still need to be seen by a GP.
“I don’t like it when private providers cash in on people’s anxiety like that. They wrap it up as a nice way to ease your fears – but it’s just a money making scheme,” Dr Watson said.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, which approves and advises on clinical care, has previously said the accuracy of the tests is uncertain and likely to be “highly variable”.
Maria Jones, 45, from Aberdeen, said her GP told her not to buy a Strep A test when she consulted him over symptoms including a sore throat, spots in her mouth, coughing and a temperature.
“He immediately told me not to waste my money, saying they are not accurate,” she told The Telegraph. “We’re not advising using those [tests] for the time being,” Professor Kamila Hawthorne, chair of the Royal College of GPs, said on Friday. “It is a clinical diagnosis. It is not too difficult to make. So long as the parent watches their child and brings their child in, then we are more than happy to see them.”
Mild infection
Strep A infections are usually mild and can be easily treated with antibiotics, though they can develop into a more serious invasive Group A Strep (iGAS) infection – though this is rare.
The majority of Strep A infections can be treated with antibiotics, with penicillin the preferred course of medication.
Sir Stephen Powis, medical director of NHS England, said on Sunday that wholesalers had been tasked with producing antibiotics to handle demand following the rise in Strep A cases.
He told BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg: “We have plenty of antibiotics. We have asked people to prescribe them a little bit earlier and the Government is working with wholesalers.
“The supply chain works really well, I expect we will be seeing those supplies coming out to pharmacies as we speak.”
