HEALTH

Scarlet fever, how to catch it and what are the symptoms

Scarlet fever is an infection that mainly affects children and is caused by toxins produced by a group A streptococcus. However, the disease can also affect adults and even more than once, although this is a rare occurrence. 

Despite being an infection considered mild, scarlet fever is highly contagious and has an incubation period of two to five days. Transmission occurs mainly by air.

The symptoms of scarlet fever, such as a diffuse rash, can often lead to confusion with other diseases such as rubella or measles.

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What is scarlet fever
Scarlet fever is an infection that mainly affects children and is caused by toxins produced by a group A streptococcus. However, the disease can also affect adults and even more than once, although this is a rare occurrence. Despite being an infection considered mild, scarlet fever is highly contagious and has an incubation period of two to five days. Transmission occurs mainly by air. The symptoms of scarlet fever, such as a diffuse rash, can often lead to confusion with other diseases such as rubella or measles. (Source: santagostino.it)
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Transmission by air
Scarlet fever is mainly caught through airborne transmission and is easy to catch in crowded environments where many young children are present. Despite the fact that it is a disease that can make anyone sick, those affected are mainly between the ages of 5 and 15.
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Behaviors that would promote contagion
Scarlet fever contagion is easiest when certain situations occur: one comes into contact with respiratory droplets, one touches one's mouth or nose with one's hands, one drinks from the same glass or eats from the same dish, one comes into contact with infected burns or wounds, one touches sores on the skin of a person who is already ill, food is not stored properly.
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The main symptoms
In the first phase of scarlet fever, the disease may present with symptoms such as high fever, sore throat, tachycardia, vomiting and a feeling of nausea. After a couple of days, small red spots appear in areas of the body such as armpits, neck and groin, which then tend to spread elsewhere. The tongue may also be affected, with swelling and a white patina that then tends to turn scarlet red. The rash usually ceases within seven days.
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Diagnosis
In order to obtain the correct diagnosis of scarlet fever, it is obviously necessary to consult your doctor. The latter will make sure that the lymph nodes are swollen and through a pharyngeal swab will confirm or not the presence of the group A streptococcus that causes the disease.
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