What is Scarlet Fever?
If you have ever wondered about what scarlet fever is, let us put your mind at ease. It is not exactly a fever but is actually an infectious disease caused by an exotoxin released by streptococcus pyogenes. It is also known as scarlatina.
It has a history of being a deadly disease but with modern medicine, it is now an infection which can be treated with antibiotics. It was also a very common infection for children to catch and its symptoms were often mistaken for the many other infections of its time like chicken pox, rubella, measles, yellow fever and so on.
The name scarlet fever has comes from the red colored characteristic rash that the toxin causes. Like most infections, untreated these infections can cause a lot of long term damage.