Scarlet fever in adults

What is scarlet fever in adults?

Scarlet fever is a well-known and not uncommon childhood disease. Many people are not aware that adults can also be infected. There is no vaccination against scarlet fever and you can get infected with the pathogen streptococcus at any age. This bacterium causes many diseases and in scarlet fever it is characteristic that the germ produces a certain toxin, which leads to the typical symptoms. However, since the course of scarlet fever in adults is often attenuated, the disease may be detected late or not at all, which in the worst case leads to complications.

Causes

Scarlet fever is caused by ß-hemolytic Group A Streptococci and is one of the most common infectious diseases in Germany. In scarlet fever, the pathogen carries a certain toxin with it, which distinguishes the disease from other infections with the pathogen. In most cases, children between the ages of 4-10 years are infected, but it is possible to become infected at any age. When speaking, coughing or sneezing – the so-called droplet infection – the pathogen can be passed on and then absorbed by the inhaled air of the person opposite. There is also wound scarlet fever, which however rarely occurs and infects the soft tissues of humans.

Diagnosis

In adults, scarlet fever often progresses in a milder form or in an atypical course of the disease, so that the diagnosis cannot be made simply by determining the external appearance, as is the case with children. In the absence of classic symptoms of the disease, such as tonsillitis, red cheeks and skin rash, the only way to detect the triggering bacterium is through laboratory testing. Depending on the severity of the disease, a blood test, a throat swab or other sampling may be necessary.

Scarlet fever is present if one has become infected with a bacterium called streptococcus, which produces a certain toxin.

  • Scarlet rapid test

There is a specific rapid test called the Streptococcus A rapid test because it specifically tests for this group of bacteria. This test is performed in most practices and hospitals.

The test checks whether antigens of the pathogen are found in the throat swab. After approx. 10 minutes, it can be determined with an approximately 95% certainty whether the germ is the ß-hemolytic Group A Streptococcus. In this case, however, it is not possible to determine whether it is scarlet fever or common tonsillitis with streptococci without the characteristic exotoxin.