What is scarlet fever?

Dec 29, 2022 Source: Cainiu Health

Dr. Jiang Weimin

Introduction

Scarlet fever is a disease that can occur throughout the year, particularly more common during winter and spring. The primary patients are children aged 3 to 7, so parents must take preventive measures in daily life. Especially when children live collectively at school, extra care should be taken to prevent them from contracting scarlet fever. The bacteria enter the body through the respiratory tract and may cause angina.

Scarlet fever is still an unfamiliar illness to many parents. However, since scarlet fever mostly affects children, parents with young kids should understand this disease so they can handle it calmly when encountered. What exactly is scarlet fever?

What Is Scarlet Fever?

Scarlet fever is an acute respiratory infectious disease primarily caused by infection with hemolytic streptococcus. The clinical symptoms of scarlet fever include fever, a widespread red rash over the body, and subsequent skin peeling after the rash subsides. Some patients may develop complications affecting the heart, kidneys, and joints following scarlet fever.

Scarlet fever can occur at any time of the year, but it is more common during winter and spring. The primary age group affected is children aged 3 to 7 years old, so parents must take preventive measures in daily life. This is especially important when children are living collectively at school, where extra care should be taken to prevent infection.

The bacteria enter the body through the respiratory tract, attaching to the pharynx and causing sore throat, along with redness and swelling of the throat and tonsils. They produce a serous fibrinous exudate, and sometimes ulcers may form. If the bacteria spread via lymphatic channels into nearby tissues, they can cause peritonsillar abscess, sinusitis, otitis media, mastoiditis, cervical lymphadenitis, or cellulitis. Clinically, a small number of children may develop sepsis or metastatic pyogenic infections. We hope this information is helpful to you. Wishing you good health and happiness.

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What are the "three reds and three pains" of scarlet fever?

In general, the "three reds" of scarlet fever should refer to redness of the face, neck, and chest, while the "three pains" should refer to headache, back pain, and pain around the eyes. Scarlet fever is an acute respiratory infectious disease, clinically characterized by fever, pharyngitis, and a diffuse, bright red rash over the entire body. Typically, the rash appears within 24 hours after the onset of fever, initially presenting as redness of the face, neck, and chest.

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Isolate scarlet fever patients until several days after the rash appears, until recovery.

Scarlet fever requires isolation for approximately 7 to 10 days after the rash appears. However, as individual circumstances vary, the exact duration may differ from person to person. Specifically, scarlet fever is an infectious disease caused by group A streptococcus. Patients usually need to be isolated once symptoms appear to prevent the spread of the disease. The incubation period for scarlet fever is typically 2 to 4 days.

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What foods are good for scarlet fever?

Patients with scarlet fever can eat more foods rich in high-quality protein, such as mutton, pork, chicken, and eggs, as these foods are rich in high-quality protein that supplies essential amino acids required by the body, enhancing resistance. In addition, they may consume high-calorie, high-protein liquid foods, such as milk, soybean milk, egg drop soup, and steamed egg custard, which are all high in优质 protein.