By Dr Quince MwabuA 10-YEAR-OLD boy brought his mother to the outpatient department with a complaint of sore throats, fever, abdominal pain and nausea.Her general health has been fine until two days ago. Initially, she noticed pain on swallowing and had a temperature of 38 °C.Her mother noticed the red rash on her trunk and the inside of her knees. Upon examining her tongue, the enlarged papillae showed “strawberry” like appearance. Her anterior-cervical nodes noted swollen and tender.Immediately, a rapid streptococcal antigen test was done and results showed a strain of group A StreptococcusWhat is Scarlet fever?Scarlet fever is an illness caused by a bacteria called group A Streptococcus or group A strep. It is also known as scarlatina.Scarlet fever is almost always accompanied by a sore throat and a high fever and it is common in young ones. Streptococcal bacteria can sometime be toxic; a toxin released by the streptococcal bacteria causes the rash […]
SCARLET FEVER – ITS CAUSES
