Brits have been warned that cases of the Victorian disease are soaring in the UK, here are the manifestations you need to look out for.
Doctors have warned parents that cases of scarlet fever are more elevated than normal for this time of the year, so they need to be mindful of the signs.
Scarlet fever is one of winter’s childhood diseases, and while it most typically affects children under ten, the bacterial infection can be caught by anyone.
News of soaring cases comes after GP consultations of Scarlet fever in England have been higher in 2022, compared to the past 2 years, and have remained elevated later in the season than anticipated.
The Government has warned that while this unique pattern may persist in the future, the recent spike may be a possible outcome of the withdrawal of measures executed during the coronavirus pandemic to ease transmission.
Parents and carers must be mindful that signs of Scarlet fever are comparable to that of flu-like ones, including a sore throat or rash, headache, high temperature, sickness and swollen glands in the neck.
A distinctive rash can then appear about 12 to 48 hours later, which can extend from the chest and stomach. Doctors have added that parents also need to look out for small, raised bumps which will make the skin feel rough and sandpaper-like to touch.
On the tongue, a white layer may also appear, which can peel and result in a strawberry tongue, where the tongue becomes red and swollen and covered in smallish bumps.
These symptoms, doctors have said, are identical for both children and adults.
Speaking about the rise in cases, Dr Chun Tang, GP and Medical Director at Pall Mall Medical, said that it had been rather rare in the United Kingdom for the past few decades but cases had been rising and that it was a communicable disease and could make children feel somewhat poorly.
While treatment is usually a ten-day course of antibiotics, Dr Naveen Puri, Associate Clinical Director at Bupa Health Clinics, who deliver GP services to one to 18-year-olds explained that it was infectious and passed through coughing, sneezing or close contact, sharing bath towels, clothes, bed sheets or cutlery with the infected individual and that if your child has Scarlet fever, keep them out of school and away from other people.
Nonetheless, it seems that all these illnesses have come back since the rollout of the COVID jabs, and it seems that since then some people have become immune compromised, and it’s unfortunate that health has gone backwards, and we’ve truly embraced Victorian values.
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