Scarlet fever is an infectious disease mediated by bacteria, which mainly affects children over the age of three. In principle, however, there is a risk of contracting scarlet fever at any age. A typical scarlet fever infection is a small skin rash, which usually appears one or two days after the onset of the disease and spreads from the upper part of the body to the entire body, except for the palms of the feet and hands. In addition, ill persons show a so-called raspberry tongue (reddened tongue) and a paleness around the mouth.
How often can you get scarlet fever?
In principle, scarlet fever can occur more than once. However, it is often not so easy to distinguish a scarlet fever infection from other infections. According to the current state of science, an infection with scarlet fever is possible three times.
Nevertheless, there are often cases in which children would have contracted the infectious disease ten to 15 times according to the pediatrician. However, this is rather unlikely, as any infection with the bacterium Streptococcus Pyogenes is often referred to as scarlet fever. Although this bacterium is also responsible for scarlet fever, it also causes a number of other infections of the upper respiratory tract.
Especially the so-called streptococcal angina, an infection of the throat and palatal tonsils caused by the bacterium, is often equated with scarlet fever. However, the typical reddened tongue (“raspberry tongue”) and the pallor occurring around the mouth are missing here. A scarlet-like rash can also occur with streptococcal angina.
Since there is usually no difference between the treatment of scarlet fever and streptococcal angina, it is often not decisive which of the two forms the child has. In both cases the disease is treated with antibiotics. Streptococci already react sensitively to penicillins, and in the case of allergies, the so-called macrolide antibiotics (e.g. erythromycin) can also be given.
In retrospect, it is therefore often no longer possible to prove whether a child actually had scarlet fever or only streptococcal angina. This form of streptococcal infection can, by the way, be contracted much more frequently than the actual scarlet fever. But even a more harmless viral tonsillitis, the most common form of tonsillitis in adults, is a possible differential diagnosis to scarlet fever. However, this should not be confused with scarlet fever, as antibiotic therapy does not improve viral infections.
- Tonsillitis
- This is how long scarlet usually lasts
- The Scarlet Tongue
