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Scarlet fever is a type of purulent streptococcal sore throat: along with inflammation of the throat and tonsils, rashes appear on the skin. The disease is caused by a certain group of streptococci that produce toxins, thereby causing skin rashes. A child can get scarlet fever several times. Scarlet fever is contagious: about 20% of children around a sick child become infected. Infants almost never get scarlet fever; adults rarely do.
Course of the disease
The immediate onset of the disease is expressed in sore throat, headache and rising temperature. Small children experience abdominal pain and vomiting. Cough or runny nose is not typical with this disease. Pronounced symptoms of the disease are a bright red throat and tongue, a sweetish bad breath, purulent plaque on the tonsils, and inflamed lymph nodes in the neck. Initially, the tongue is covered with a dense yellow-white coating, but on the 3-4th day it becomes red, against which hypertrophied tongue papillae stand out (“raspberry tongue”, “strawberry tongue”). The face is usually red, but the area around the mouth is pale. On days 2-3, dense, slightly convex skin rashes of small size appear. If the skin is not treated, after 1-3 weeks it begins to peel off. On the hands and feet, the skin comes off in the form of a film.
When to call a doctor
During the day, if a child develops a high temperature within a few hours and develops a sore throat. If on the third day of treatment for scarlet fever with antibiotics there is no improvement. Contact your doctor immediately if your child develops lethargy or unusual sleepiness.
Doctor’s help
If the disease is pronounced, the doctor will determine it at first glance at the child. In the initial stages, the disease can be determined through a quick test for streptococci. Treatment with antibiotics is mandatory. To prevent rare consequences of streptococcal disease (rheumatic fever, damage to heart valves, kidney inflammation), it is necessary to take antibiotics for the entire prescribed period; premature withdrawal can be dangerous.
Your help to the child
The child needs bed rest. If there is difficulty swallowing, it is necessary to feed the child liquid food, including meat broth and any drinks. A sore throat can be relieved by gargling with sage tea and herbal lozenges. If a child suffers from scarlet fever for the second or third time, perhaps someone from his environment is a carrier of the infectious agent in the pharyngeal cavity, although he himself is not sick. Then the doctor can take a throat swab from children and adults around the patient and prescribe the carrier of the infection an antibiotic from the penicillin group for five days.