A 7-year-old boy with acute onset of breathing difficulty

Group A streptococcus (GAS) is a major bacterial pathogen affecting children globally. Approximately 15% of school-age children experience a symptomatic episode of GAS culture-positive pharyngitis each year. Although the incidence of invasive GAS disease under these circumstances is low (0.5%-2%), an increasing number of invasive GAS cases have been reported over the last 2 decades. This report describes a 7-year-old boy who, after being treated for GAS pharyngitis, developed a fatal streptococcal toxic shock syndrome.