The region of Ilia has been placed under surveillance for several days by the National Public Health Organization (EODY), following the recording of three cases of streptococcus, two of which resulted in the death of the patient.

According to pelop.gr, the first of these cases involves the man from Livadia who was vacationing in Katakolon and originally attributed his death to a brown spider bite.

The head of the Patras Forensic Service Angeliki Tsiola in the report she signed said the cause of his death was streptococcus. However, in his case the spider bite was not accidental, as there were two bite marks on his leg and it is likely that the insect or rodent that bit him transmitted the streptococcus virus to him.

The second incident also involves a visitor to Ilia and specifically Ancient Olympia.

The governor of the Pyrgos Hospital, Spyros Politis, told the “Peloponnese” that the man was transferred there on Saturday. As he described, when his medical history was taken, he was already undergoing some treatment. The doctors of Pyrgos, after examining him, found his particularly difficult condition and sent him to Patras, where a few hours later he died of septic shock.

“On Monday we had a third case which we also sent to Patras, who is being treated in the ICU. This case seems to be doing well,” Politis told us, adding that these cases are not related to each other, except for the fact that they were infected with the same virus.

He informed the local newspaper that “following these incidents, a team from the EODY came to our hospital on Monday and started taking samples from cases coming to the hospital in order to test for streptococcus as well. These samples will be taken until today so that testing can then be done to determine if it was an incidental or if there is a widespread problem in the community.”

According to Protothema.gr, the EODY is on alert and has taken the necessary steps to determine if there is transmission and to what extent. Given that the 2 people who died were on vacation in Ilia, coming from elsewhere, further checks are needed to form a clear picture of the area.

It will be recalled that last year and early this year, the health authorities had raised the alarm about the outbreak of cases of group A invasive streptococcus, from which 21 people, including children, had lost their lives.