Boy, 3, dies from bacteria responsible for strep throat
Posted January 26, 2015 4:32 pm.
Last Updated October 30, 2015 12:18 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Police are investigating after a three-year-old boy, who attended an east-end daycare, contracted a bacterial infection that is commonly linked to strep throat and died on Jan. 17.
Elaine Levy, vice-president of family and neighbourhood services at Woodgreen Community Centre, said the child was at the Woodfield Daycare Centre at Duke of Connaught Public School on Jan. 13 when he began running a fever.
His parents were contacted and he was taken home. The child died four days later at home.
The city’s associate medical officer of health, Dr. Irene Armstrong, said the child died of an infection caused by the bacteria, group A streptococcus (GAS).
GAS is a common bacteria that is responsible for such things as strep throat and skin infections but can cause more severe illnesses such as toxic shock and the flesh-eating disease on rare occasions.
A letter has been sent home to all parents who have children in Woodfield Daycare Centre, informing them of the symptoms of GAS.
On Monday, friends and family gathered at the funeral for the little boy who loved superheroes.
“Noah was very into superheroes and they invited people to wear superhero T-shirts and there were many of those,” Levy said.
In his obituary, he was described as a “trailblazer” who packed a lifetime of love and laughter into his few short years.
See the below document for must-know facts about GAS. Mobile viewers, click here.
Invasive Group A Streptococcal Disease Fact Sheet by CityNewsToronto
