Researchers at Imperial College London and Public Health England have discovered a new variant of the group A streptococcus bacteria.

A new strain of flesh-eating bug that kills one in four of those it invasively infects is spreading around the world, evidence suggests.

The group A streptococcus bacteria has caused a sharp rise in skin and throat infections in the UK over the past 17 years.

Scientists from Imperial College London and Public Health England identified a jump in cases of streptococcus infection from 1998 to 2009. In severe cases, the microbes can cause necrotising fasciitis - the "flesh eating" condition which destroys body tissue - pneumonia and blood poisoning.

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