Scarlet Fever: An Infectious Disease Study

The scarlet fever is a bacterial illness. The fever is a result of strep throat; after a victim has strep throat it can then develop into scarlet fever. The illness lives in the nose and throat of humans. Since it is found in these areas, it can be easily spread through the air by a cough or sneeze. It can be spread from drinking or eating after someone who is infected. It can also be spread if one comes in contact with somewhere that an infected person coughed or sneezed, then touches their eyes, mouth, or nose. (Mayo Clinic)

B. Scarlet fever is an acute and communicable disease. The symptoms associated with scarlet fever are a red rash that feels like sandpaper, a sore throat, and a high fever. It is a disease that mainly affects children who are 5-15 years old, but “anyone can get scarlet fever.” (CDC, 2017). Scarlet fever is acquired “through a bacterial infection caused by group A strep” (CDC, 2017). This group A strep is the same bacteria that causes strep throat (CDC, 2017). The fever is acquired when Group A strep bacteria inhabits a person’s nose and throat. Scarlet fever is caused by group A strep bacteria that is able to be transmitted “through contact with droplets from an infected person’s sneeze or cough” (CDC, 2017). In addition, it could also spread when “a person drinks from the same glass or eats from the same plate as the person who is ill” (CDC, 2017). This means that scarlet fever can be transmitted in an airborne or vehicle borne way. Taken from a publication in the pharmacist

Scarlet fever and diphtheria among many others were two of the most common diseases to effect children in the early part of the 1900s. Scarlet fever occurred mainly in those between the ages of 2 and 8, and was spread by droplets from carriers and affected individuals. Despite sore throat, headache, and fever, with red spots in the mouth and on the body, children would often continue to play with friends in the street and to mix with neighbours, thus allowing the disease to spread. Diphtheria was likewise highly contagious, generally affecting the throat but occasionally other mucous membranes and the skin.

Scarlet fever is a bacterial infection that causes a red rash on the skin. It is caused by a toxin producing organism called Streptococcus pyogenes. This organism is rarely seen in well developed countries. The age group it affects is typically six to twelve year olds, however; all age groups can have the infection. The modern form of scarlet fever “...in children is now causing toxic shock-like syndrome (TSLS), an acute and

Implementation of patient care practices for infection control is the role of the nursing staff. Nurses are responsible for maintaining hygiene, consistent with hospital policies and good nursing practice on the ward and monitoring aseptic techniques, including hand-washing and use of isolation. It is also in their scope of practice to promptly report to the attending physician any evidence of infection in patients under the nurse’s care and initiating patient isolation and ordering culture specimens from any patient showing signs of a communicable disease, when the physician is not immediately available. Limiting patient exposure to infections from visitors, hospital staff, other patients, or equipment used for diagnosis or treatment and maintaining

Scarlet fever is a bacteria infection. The symptoms are a red rash on the body, fever, and a sore throat. It is an interesting fact that the same bacteria that causes strep throat causes scarlet fever. And I’m sure we’ve all had strep throat at some time! But in the past, scarlet fever killed mostly young children, nearly 95%, because children don’t have a strong immune system that is able to fight back against such a strong disease. There is no vaccine for scarlet fever but there are antibiotics to treat it. Also, improved hygiene such as washing hands frequently, and also better health care has stopped the disease from spreading and killing as it once did. However, many poor developing countries still struggle with with deadly

Due to the description of the disease, Scarlet fever seems to have been dated back almost 2,500 years even back to the time of Hippocrates. Supposedly there has been 3 major epidemics of Scarlet Fever. The first uncontested account of scarlet fever came in 1553 similar to measles, diphtheria and other rashes however some say it was seen as early as 430 B.C. Scarlet fever brought about a death rate then as high as one hundred and fifty out of one hundred thousand, which is a very morbid death rate.

In Frankentstein, a gothic novel written my Mary Shelley, scarlet fever was a huge part in the main plot line. Scarlet fever was a common disease during the time Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein. Scarlet fever was particularly common in children and was fatal and deadly. It was a disease that affected many children and hat many sympotms, causes and stages (Bunch 54). In the modern world we live in with modern medicine it's not as common, however, back then if you were to get this disease, you were deemed tainted and couldn't be touched due to the fact that it was extremely contagious and no one wanted to be exposed to the disease.

If a streptococcal infection such as pharyngitis or scarlet fever is left untreated, there is a small (~3%) chance that within approximately 20 days, the patient will present with rheumatic fever. After the first bout of rheumatic fever, if the host acquires a second untreated S. Pyogenes infection, the chance of coming down with rheumatic fever jumps substantially to ~50%. Most often this secondary disease will strike people aged 6-15 years old, roughly 20 days after the streptococcal infection, with a 2-5% mortality rate. One of the major diagnostic symptoms of this disease is Erythema Marginatum, snake- or ring-like eruptions covering the trunk, upper arms, and legs. Other symptoms include fever, arthritis (elbows, knees, wrists, and ankles), swollen joints, pain in the abdomen, nodules

When I was in middle school, I had Ms. Keaton as my seventh grade language arts teacher. I remember her telling the class to get all of our guided reading workbooks out and flip to a certain page, as we were about to begin a new chapter on history and diseases. When I flipped the book open and turned to the assigned page, I was intrigued by the image. The image was dark and sketchy, but the words “Yellow Fever” stood out in bold letters in the middle of the page. I cocked my head when I read the title, then I laughed.

In the late 18th century a new disease appeared called Scarlet Fever. Scarlet fever is an infection caused by streptococcus. This caused a sore throat, fever, and a very red rough rash that started in the torso area and would soon spread over the entire body. Scarlet fever mainly targeted children from the age of four to the age of eight. But anyone can get Scarlet fever. It would almost look like the person infected had been badly sunburnt. The tongue and lymph nodes would also become very swollen after the person had caught Scarlet fever.

According to Encyclopedia, any action of spreading their germs causes others to have a chance to catch the disease. Therefore, sneezing, coughing, and having contact with that person, can cause others to be infected. Moreover, the symptoms of Scarlet Fever are a fever, tiredness, sore throat, and a rash that covers most of the body. The fever goes away later while restoration is done in a matter of two weeks. Interestingly, once someone has the disease, their immune system adapts to it.

“Scarlet fever (sometimes referred to as scarlatina) is an infectious disease characterized by fever, sore throat (pharyngitis) and a characteristic rash.” (Doeer) “ From 1840 until 1883, Scarlet fever, became one of the most common infectious childhood disease to cause death in most of the major metropolitan centers of Europe and the United States, with case fatality rates that reached or exceeded 30% in some areas—eclipsing even measles, diphtheria, and pertussis”

Infection control is very important in the health care profession. Health care professionals, who do not practice proper infection control, allow themselves to become susceptible to a number of infections. Among the most dreaded of these infections are: hepatitis B (HBV), hepatitis C (HCV), and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Another infection which has more recently increased in prevalence is methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). These infections are all treated differently. Each infection has its own symptoms, classifications, and incubation periods. These infections are transmitted in very similar fashions, but they do not all target the same population.

The cause of the scarlet fever is actually rather complicated. Scientist are mostly sure that Streptococci are almost constantly found in the throat and blood of Scarlet Fever patients. They say it is caused by an infection with the group A beta hemolytic streptococcus. Which is usually transmitted by respiratory droplets. The period of incubation varies, but it generally lasts from 3 to