Scarlet fever cases more than double
be rising week on week, with 70 in the week to February 4, compared to 54 the week before, 23 in the week to January 21, and 16 in the week to January 14.
The latest PHE data marks yet another rise in cases of scarlet fever the region this winter.
In the six weeks to January 7, covering December and the festive period, 134 suspected cases of scarlet fever have been reported to Public Health England (PHE) in the area.
The number of reports is much higher than in the same period in the previous five years.
●●WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS?
The first symptoms of scarlet fever include a sore throat and fever which may be accompanied by a headache, nausea and vomiting.
Between 12 to 48 hours after this, a widespread, fine pink-red rash, which feels like sandpaper when touched, will first appear on the chest or stomach.
Other symptoms include swollen neck glands, loss of appetite and red lines in the folds of the body, such as the armpit, which may last a couple of days after the rash has gone.
A white coating on the tongue, which peels a few days later leaving the tongue red and swollen (this is known as strawberry tongue) is also a symptom.
●●TREATING SCARLET FEVER
Scarlet fever used to be a very serious illness, but nowadays most cases tend to be mild.
It can easily be treated with antibiotics. Liquid antibiotics, such as penicillin or amoxicillin, are often used to treat children. These must be taken for 10 days, even though most people recover after four to five days.
It’s important to be aware that your child will still be infectious for 24 hours after antibiotic treatment has begun, and therefore they shouldn’t attend nursery or school during this period.
Without antibiotic treatment, your child will be infectious for one to two weeks after symptoms appear.
With the right treatment, further problems are unlikely.
However, there’s a small risk of the infection spreading to other parts of the body and causing more serious infections, such as an ear infection, sinusitis, or pneumonia.
●●HOW SCARLET
fever spreads Scarlet fever is very contagious and can be caught by:
Breathing in bacteria in airborne droplets from an infected person’s coughs and sneezes
Touching the skin of a person with a streptococcal skin infection, such as impetigo
Sharing contaminated towels, baths, clothes or bed linen
It can also be caught from carriers – people who have the bacteria in their throat or on their skin but don’t have any symptoms. Nurseries and schools are told to try and curb the spread of the bug through encouraging youngsters and staff to wash their hands.