Special features for babies | Scarlet fever

Special features for babies

Scarlet fever primarily affects children aged between four and ten years. Scarlet fever in babies is extremely rare. Nevertheless, babies can also suffer from scarlet fever.

The risk of infection by siblings in infancy who are affected by scarlet fever is therefore quite real. Basically, scarlet fever affects babies as well as toddlers and adults. Since babies are not able to communicate their symptoms, parents should be particularly attentive.

In addition to the typical symptoms of scarlet fever such as rashes, thick tonsils, fever and chills, babies can show other signs. These include general restlessness and unwillingness to drink. If you have any signs of the disease, you should take your child to a pediatrician.

The pediatrician can diagnose scarlet fever and treat it with the appropriate antibiotic, penicillin. Penicillin is also well tolerated by babies and can therefore be used to treat scarlet fever. A child infects itself with the disease scarlet fever by absorbing small droplets of bodily fluids (e.g. saliva) of a sick person through the air (droplet infection).

Once the pathogen has been absorbed, it takes about a week (2-8 days) for the disease to break out (incubation period). Scarlet fever, sore throat, headache, and high fever are typical symptoms of scarlet fever, and the child feels very sick. Soon after, a rash develops from the lower trunk with small red spots, which can also itch.

At the doctor’s office, a pronounced purulent inflammation of the tonsils and a strong redness of the throat becomes apparent. After taking an antibiotic, the child soon feels better, is usually no longer contagious 24 hours after the start of the therapy and after about a week the scarlet fever is completely healed. This very common disease in children rarely leads to complications such as inflammation of the heart muscle (myocarditis), inflammation of the middle ear (otitis media) or accumulation of pus behind the tonsils (pertonsillar abscess). Consequential diseases such as acute rheumatic fever or kidney disease (glomerulonephritis) occur, but are also not common.