TESTS for Strep A have largely sold out online after thousands of worried parents stripped the shelves.
None of the at-home kits are currently available on Amazon, eBay or on a number of online pharmacies as of Tuesday evening.
Despite this, The Sun has seen multipack Strep A tests available on some websites - with a 50 pack on sale for an eye watering £270.
The kits are similar to PCR Covid tests, involving a long cotton bud that swabs the back of the throat.
The sample is then dipped into a solution and a strip test displays the result of the disease which has now killed nine kids in the UK.
Walk-in Strep A tests are available from your local pharmacy.
The shortage comes as The Sun revealed Britain is facing a critical shortage of penicillin and amoxicillin antibiotics, used to treat the disease.
Parents have reported difficulty in getting hold of the over-the-counter medicine as pharmacies faced relentless demand.
But ministers - despite supply issues, costs and a shortage of ingredients for the medicines - are considering a rollout in schools.
Group A Streptococcal (iGAs) disease is a bacteria sometimes found in the throat on the skin.
It is incredibly rare but can cause life threatening illness and can be contagious.
There are a number standout symptoms you should look out for and parents are being warned of tell-tale signs which may appear.
Most who contract the disease remain symptom free, but those that don't can develop throat and skin infections.
Scarlet fever, which presents as a high temperature, sore throat, rash and swollen neck glands, is also a symptom.
A nasty sunburn-type rash that feels like sandpaper is also a stand out symptom.
Almost all the kids who have died were primary school age.
They include Muhammad Ibrahim Ali, four, from High Wycombe, Bucks and a youngster at a primary school in Waterlooville, Hampshire.
Seven-year-old Hanna Roap's condition began with just a mild cough but she rapidly deteriorated and tragically died within 24-hours.
The lockdown is being blamed for the outbreak because children were shuttered away — creating a lower immunity to infections.
