What does it depend on how often you get scarlet fever? | How often can you get scarlet fever?

What does it depend on how often you get scarlet fever?

Scarlet fever is caused by the bacterium Streptococcus Pyogenes. However, this only happens under certain conditions. If a person is infected with the bacterium, normally only streptococcal angina, i.e. inflammation of the throat and tonsils, occurs.

However, it can happen that the bacterium itself is infected by a special virus. Such viruses, which can only attack bacteria, are called bacteriophages. Contact with this virus is not necessarily bad for the bacterium either, because the virus can incorporate part of its genetic material into the bacterium’s genetic material.

This results in new abilities for the bacterium. In the case of streptococci, this results in the ability to produce toxins. If a streptococcus that was previously infected with a bacteriophage now infects a human being, this human being falls ill with scarlet fever due to the toxin. Since there are three different bacteriophages that can infect a streptococcus, there are also three different toxins that can cause scarlet fever. Because a human being forms antibodies against the toxin involved after a scarlet fever infection, it is possible to contract scarlet fever exactly three times according to the current state of science.

If you had scarlet fever once, is the next time less bad?

As scarlet fever is caused by streptococci as described above, which can be equipped with three different toxins, the immune system is only familiar with one of the three toxins after the first infection. If the patient is reinfected with exactly this type of streptococci, the disease will not break out again. However, the other toxins are not yet known to the immune system.Therefore an infection with another type is still possible and usually not much less severe than the first scarlet infection.

How fast in a row can you get scarlet fever?

In theory, the first scarlet fever infection can be followed by the next one if there is another type of streptococcus infection. Often, however, infections that follow each other very quickly have a different cause. If the antibiotic is not taken long enough, individual streptococci may survive and the symptoms may return after initial improvement as soon as the antibiotic is discontinued.

However, this is not an infection with another type of streptococcus. If there are any uncertainties, it is worth going to the doctor again after stopping the antibiotic and having a smear test for streptococci. If no more bacteria are found, the probability of surviving the infection is high.