How is scarlet fever transmitted? Scarlet fever: causes, symptoms, treatment, prevention

Today, there are many diseases that belong to the category of children. In the same article we will talk about how the scarlet fever is transmitted. And also will tell all the most basic about this disease.

What it is?

At the outset, you need to determine the main term, which will be constantly mentioned in this article. What is scarlet fever? A disease that is of an infectious nature. Its main symptom and indicator is a small rash. It must also be said that this disease affects mainly children of preschool and school age. How is scarlet fever transmitted ? This is a question that worries many parents. Most often - airborne droplets.

Causes

Separately, you need to consider the causes of this disease. This disease occurs as a result of infection with streptococcus, which belongs to group A. In general, the disease is transmitted from the carrier of the virus. There are several options:

1. You can get infected from a patient not only with scarlet fever, but also streptococcal pharyngitis or sore throat. Especially dangerous is the patient in the first days of illness.
2. You can get infected and from an apparently healthy person, who some time ago had had scarlet fever. For some time (most often for three weeks), he still remains a carrier of streptococcus.
3. A healthy person can also be dangerous. This happens in the event that streptococci live on its mucous membranes. Such people, by the way, 15% of all living on the planet.

Ways of transmission of disease in children

Separately, I want to talk about how the scarlet fever is transmitted to children. There are two main ways of the virus from a sick person to a healthy one:

1. Airborne droplets. In this case, the child becomes infected from the carrier of the virus, when he sneezes, coughs, says.
2. Through household items. The virus settles on household items, which are used by both healthy and sick kids.
3. In medicine, there are cases when a newborn child was infected with scarlet fever from his mother, passing through her birth canal.

Basically, the virus settles on the mucous membrane of the nasopharynx. Less often - on the mucous genitalia.

Symptomatics

After understanding how the scarlet fever is transmitted, you need to tell about the main symptoms that the child will have. However, first I want to say that the incubation period of this disease is from 1 to 10 days. The first signs of the disease:

1. Weakness.
2. Chills.
3. Temperature rise up to 40 ° С.
4. There may be nausea, vomiting (because during infection there is a strong intoxication of the organism of a patient with streptococcal toxin).

Other symptoms that most often appear after the first three days of the onset of the disease:

1. A small red rash appears on the skin. Most often it is localized on the cheeks, on the sides of the trunk, in the groin and on the limbs.
2. Rashes may begin to peel off, this often causes severe itching.
3. The child's tongue gets bright red color.
4. If the baby has scarlet fever, there will be a rash on the pharynx and on the palate.
5. Pain in the lymph nodes.

Scarlet fever in adults

I also want to say that scarlet fever is a disease that can affect adults. However, this is extremely rare. After all, by the time of majority, the person most often develops immunity to this disease. Outbreaks of the epidemic among the adult population are extremely rare. If this happens, then in the form of streptococcal pharyngitis, which flows without an eruption. Foci of the disease are most often localized in student dormitories, military barracks, etc.

Ways of transmission of disease in adults

Scarlet fever is transmitted to adults, not just children. This is a contagious disease that can affect different age groups of the population. If we talk about adults, the main ways of transfer can be as follows:

1. Air droplet way.
2. Household, through a variety of household items.
3. Alimentary or food. In this case, the infection gets to food at the time of its preparation. Particularly well tolerated is its dairy products, which do not boil, as well as jellies.
4. Through damage to the skin. Staphylococci can enter the mucous membranes through various wounds. In this case, the closest lymph nodes are the first to react, they will begin to ache. Also around the place of infection there will be a rash.

Symptomatic of scarlet fever in adults

If baby scarlet fever does not develop too quickly, then the adult person begins to feel the illness very acutely. In addition, at first, according to the symptoms, this problem is easily confused with angina. The main indicators of the disease:

1. Severe sore throat, especially at the time of swallowing.
2. On the tonsils can appear a pale yellow coating, ulcers.
3. Immediately inflamed and enlarged submandibular lymph nodes.

Then the symptomatology grows together with the started intoxication of the body. The temperature rises (up to 40 ° C), chills, nausea, vomiting (in the early days of the disease), then headaches are possible.

Diagnostics

After figuring out how the scarlet fever passes and whether it can affect adults, let's talk about how to identify this disease. So, it is easy to determine the doctor at the first examination of the patient. If the child is sick, you need to go to the pediatrician. If an adult is a therapist. In some cases, a blood test can be assigned to confirm the diagnosis.

Treatment

Since scarlet fever is caused not by a virus, but by a bacterium, the use of antibiotics will be relevant. It is these drugs that are actively fighting streptococcus, already stopping the spread of infection throughout the body for the whole day. What drugs will help?

1. If the patient has a mild form of the disease, then macrolides and penicillins will be relevant. These are such drugs as "Erythromycin", "Azimed" (for adults - in tablets, for children - in the form of suspension). The term of treatment with these drugs is 10 days.
2. If the patient has a moderate form, you will need injections. In such a case, for an injection, a drug such as "Oxacillin" (treatment course - 10 days) will be relevant.
3. In severe cases, cephalosporins of the first and second generations are prescribed. It can be such drugs as "Vancomycin" or "Clindamycin". The course of treatment is from 10 to 14 days. These medications are administered intravenously.

Other medicines

If you understand if scarlet fever is transmitted, and how it can get infected, you should learn about those drugs that can be used in parallel with antibiotics for treatment. After all, the most effective will be complex treatment. What else can the doctor prescribe?

1. Antiallergic agents. It can be such drugs as "Cetrin", "Loratadin". They prevent the spread of an allergic reaction that can occur on the skin.
2. Antipyretic drugs. Relevant in the early days of the disease, when the temperature can rise to maximum levels. In this case, you can take "Ibuprofen", "Paracetamol".
3. Means can also be prescribed that help to cope with sore throat. These are such drugs as "Chlorophyllipt", "Furacilin".
4. If the patient's condition is very severe, glucose and saline solutions can be injected intravenously. This is important for maintaining the water-salt balance in the body.

It is also worth mentioning that most often the treatment for scarlet fever can be carried out at home. However, in some situations, the patient needs to be hospitalized (in case of severe illness).