by Andrea R. Wright, Rita Rubin, Marc Silver, Susan Brink
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NO NEED TO PANIC. The "flesh eating" streptococcus bacteria making headlines lately are rare. Some 500 to 1,500 such group-A strep infections occur in the United States each year, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Caught within three days, they can be successfully treated with penicillin or erythromycin. So a sore throat or infected wound accompanied by a fever should be brought quickly to a doctor's attention.