It was first mentioned in the seventeenth century AD. Holding in fear the great English power and taking away thousands of human lives, she received her bloody and terrifying name - purple fever. And only a century later she found a beautiful melodious name - Scarlet. Now we call this disease scarlet fever.
Dangerous illness
What is scarlet fever in children? Symptoms, treatment and prevention of the disease will be the focus of this article.
Most often, the disease occurs in young patients, especially children from three to nine to ten years old fall into the risk zone. However, infants and adolescents can become infected with the disease.
In order for parents to be able to identify the disease on time, they need to have a clear understanding of the prevention, treatment and symptoms of scarlet fever in children. This will help to start timely treatment and achieve optimal results. Also in the article we will talk about how the disease is diagnosed and what complications or consequences it has.
In order to identify the disease as early as possible, the article will provide a photo of the symptoms of scarlet fever in children. The treatment and prevention of this disease will also be given enough time.
What causes the disease
What causes scarlet fever in a child? Since this disease is called a bacterial infection by specialists, it is clear that a dangerous bacterium is its causative agent. Most often, it enters the baby’s body by airborne droplets, adversely affecting the tonsils and other vital organs.
It is very important to know about the causative agent of the disease. This will help parents take effective measures to prevent infection and unpleasant symptoms. Prevention of scarlet fever in children is the most effective method in the fight against this disease. So, the disease occurs due to the ingestion of bacteria from the genus streptococci. This microorganism provokes an inflammatory process on the mucous membranes of the tonsils, and getting into the lymph, releases toxic substances, thereby provoking intoxication and infection of other tissues.
The bacterium that causes scarlet fever in a child can also be the causative agent of other serious diseases, such as erysipelas, intestinal infection, tonsillitis and so on.
Unfortunately, this streptococcus is very aggressive, active and hardy, therefore it can survive for a long time in our environment. What is the incubation period of scarlet fever in children? On average, from the bacteria entering the baby’s body to the first signs of an illness, it can take from two hours to a week. However, it can increase to fourteen days due to a child’s immunity or antibiotic treatment. On average, the incubation period of scarlet fever in children lasts three or four days. After this, there are clear signs of infection.
However, not all so simple. Some babies can be carriers of the disease, while they themselves will not experience any unpleasant symptoms of scarlet fever. In children, this is common. Possessing strong immunity, the guys are completely healthy, but they are dangerous for others, as they can infect them.
What are the primary manifestations of the disease? Let's find out.
How is the disease manifested?
Symptoms and treatment of scarlet fever in children are interrelated. Paying attention to how the disease manifests itself, the doctor will prescribe the individual therapy to the baby. However, we learn about this a little further. Now let's discuss how to identify a disease.
The very first sign of an illness is a high body temperature of the child (from 39 degrees and above). Hyperthermia is accompanied by headaches, chills, drowsiness and lethargy.
Further intoxication is manifested - abdominal pain, nausea and even vomiting. It is noteworthy that this state of health usually takes by surprise: the child looks alert and healthy, and suddenly everything changes dramatically.
Due to the increase in symptoms and the development of the baby’s disease, tachycardia may disturb, nervousness, confusion, and so on may occur.
A sore throat
Severe sore throat is the main symptom of scarlet fever in children, a photo of which is presented below.
No wonder scarlet fever was called purple fever. It is characterized by pronounced redness of the pharynx and mucous membranes in the throat. Tonsils, soft palate and small tongue become crimson, especially saturated against the background of pale pink mucous cheeks and hard palate.
At first, angina manifests itself only in the reddening of the throat. Children complain of severe pain that increases with swallowing, and may refuse to eat or even drink. However, over time, especially if you do not start treatment, unpleasant manifestations can occur on the mucous membranes of the palate and tonsils, making the sore throat unbearable. This can be an ordinary white coating or purulent plugs on the tonsils, which can develop into a more serious pathology - necrosis that develops on the mucous membranes. It is a small erosive area on the tonsils or soft palate, covered with a touch of gray, brown or greenish tint.
Another serious symptom of scarlet fever in children is an enlarged lymph node in the neck, behind the ear, or under the jaw. This can cause babies pain and other inconvenience.
Changes in language are another characteristic sign by which a serious disease can be recognized. In the first one or two days, the tongue is covered with whitish bloom, on which red tubercles appear - taste buds enlarged during inflammation. Then the tongue changes its color and turns bright red. Taste papillae continue to stand out against the backdrop of scarlet bloom with their pale pink shades.
Skin rashes
A rash on the body is another important symptom of scarlet fever in children. Photos of skin lesions are presented below.
At first, the rash appears where the most delicate skin is: on the face, chest, neck.
Then the lesion area spreads throughout the body. Especially painful and intense is the rash in the folds of the skin - in the groin, armpits, under the knees and elbows.
What do these skin tumors look like? With scarlet fever, a child may have small red or pink pimples. Sometimes the surface of the epidermis can be affected by hemorrhagic formations or spot hemorrhages, manifested in the form of burgundy-brown dots due to fragility of blood vessels. Most often, such rashes merge together, forming stripe lesion areas that can remain on the patient's body for quite a long time. Under them, the baby’s delicate skin becomes dry, rough and unpleasant to the touch.
The child's face, affected by the rash, looks slightly swollen and swollen. Cheeks, excessively enlarged due to painful swelling, are covered with a scarlet rash. Bright spots on the face stand out cherry red lips and flesh-colored nose, not affected by rashes. Below you can see a photo of scarlet fever in children. We will talk about the treatment and prevention of the disease further.
How long do these rashes last on the skin? Usually unpleasant symptoms disappear after a couple of days, less likely to disappear after a couple of hours. It all depends on the severity of the disease and timely treatment.
Rashes can pass quickly, but after a week peeling appears on the affected areas of the skin, as if the upper layers of the epidermis are covered with fine whitish dust. On the palms and soles, exfoliation is more expressive - the skin can peel off with whole layers. True, in very young children this happens quite rarely.
How is a disease diagnosed
As mentioned above, the symptoms and treatment of scarlet fever in children are interrelated. Therefore, in order to prescribe effective drug therapy, the attending physician should carefully examine the child and conduct a thorough diagnosis.
It is not difficult to determine the diagnosis - you just need to examine the baby, and based on the combination of the above symptoms, scarlet fever is diagnosed. A child may not have all the manifestations of the disease. Sometimes the ailment proceeds with erased symptoms. However, this can be read below.
After the diagnosis is established, the pediatrician takes a swab from the throat of a small patient, where the causative agent can be sown. If the baby's tonsils are severely inflamed and covered with a film, then a smear on a diphtheria bacillus can be additionally taken.
During the disease, it is necessary to pass a urine test several times. It is advisable to go through the study on the fourth, tenth and 21st day, if you count from the onset of the development of the disease.
Atypical forms of the disease
Most often, these are the most dangerous manifestations of the disease, since it is difficult to diagnose them in time and prescribe special treatment. Atypical forms of scarlet fever, characterized by erased symptoms, include:
- Rudimentary (or residual). All the symptoms of scarlet fever in children are mild, the body temperature practically does not increase, the skin is scarcely and locally affected (detected only on the abdomen, elbows or under the knees). To determine this type of scarlet fever is possible only by the redness of the pharynx and soreness when swallowing. And even then these symptoms disappear a few days after the first appearance. The consequences of this ailment are serious diseases, such as jade, otitis media and others.
- Extrapharyngeal. A very rare type of scarlet fever. It is characterized by skin rashes without the manifestation of a sore throat and cough. Most often, the extra-pharyngeal type of scarlet fever becomes infected due to the penetration of the pathogen into the body through wounds or purulent abscesses formed on the skin. In this case, the usual rashes are localized in the areas of the bacteria.
- No rash. It is believed that rashes are the main symptom of this ailment, but this is not always the case. Sometimes scarlet fever manifests itself without a rash (or with a very moderate amount of damage). Against this background, the remaining symptoms of the disease flourish brightly - purulent inflammation of the tonsils and pharynx.
Basic drug therapy
Treatment of scarlet fever in children primarily involves the use of antibiotics of the penicillin group. These include drugs based on amoxicillin (Flemoxin-solutab, Amoxiclav, Femoklav-solutab, Augmentin, and so on).
If a small patient has an allergy to these substances, then he is prescribed macrolide antibiotics (Vilprafen, Hemomycin, Azithromycin, Cephalixin and others). The release form of these funds may be different - tablets, capsules, suspensions and so on. Very rarely, antibiotics are used as injectable solutions. Usually this is due to constant vomiting, when the baby can not take the medicine inside, so that it is absorbed.
Despite the fact that each of the above drugs is accompanied by instructions for use, dosage, schedule and duration of the course is prescribed only by a doctor, based on the general picture of the progression of the disease. It is very important to start treatment as soon as possible, to accurately follow the recommendations of the pediatrician and in no case do not finish the drug therapy yourself, justifying that the symptoms have passed and improvement has come.
Most often, the duration of treatment for scarlet fever in children varies between seven and ten days. Therefore, parents may worry if antibiotics harm the baby’s gastrointestinal tract. In this case, caring mothers and fathers need to realize that antibiotics treat their beloved child from a deadly disease, and if you stop the course, then scarlet fever can recur or mutate in the form of all kinds of serious complications.
How to reduce fever
Since one of the common symptoms of scarlet fever can be a high fever, it is very important to use effective antipyretic drugs that would alleviate the acute course of the disease. Children under twelve years of age are most often prescribed drugs where paracetamol or ibuprofen acts as the active substance. The first category of drugs includes Efferalgan and Panadol, the second - Nurofen and the like. Patients over twelve years of age may be prescribed aspirin and its derivatives, Nimesil. It is noteworthy that the above drugs serve not only as antipyretic, but also painkillers.
Due to frequent gagging, it may be difficult for babies to take pills or suspensions. In such cases, you can use rectal suppositories.
Any drug should be given according to the instructions and not more than three to four times a day. To reduce the temperature, you can use folk methods - rubbing vinegar diluted with water, teas with the addition of currants, raspberries, cherries.
Many experts recommend not to wrap the kids. If the child’s body is on fire, let him walk in the same T-shirt, this will improve blood circulation and allow the skin to “breathe”.
How to treat a throat
Since the throat most often suffers with scarlet fever, it is very important to properly handle it in order to stop the inflammatory process on the mucous membranes and tonsils, as well as to reduce the pain syndrome.
In this case, it is best to use such drugs as “Hexoral”, “Ingalipt”, “Stop Angina”, “Tantum Verde” and others. They are available not only in the form of aerosols or sprays, but also as solutions for treating the throat or rinsing. However, it is important to adhere to certain rules that your attending physician will definitely remind you of.
Before using the spray, gargle should be rinsed with warm water or a decoction of grass. Spray the product so that it gets on each of the tonsils individually.
For manual processing of the pharynx, you can use gauze and a medical spatula (or an ordinary spoon).
Also, the doctor may prescribe pills that will need to be slowly absorbed - “Lysobact”, “Hexoral”, “Faringosept” and others.
As an alternative medicine, you can use the tips below. However, it is important to do this only after consulting with your doctor:
- You can gargle with a decoction of herbs. To prepare it, you need to take in equal proportions calendula, chamomile, thyme and sage. Two tablespoons of the mixture pour a glass of boiling water, insist for a couple of hours, drain.
- Dilute two tablets of furatsilin in two hundred milligrams of water, rinse the throat with the resulting solution several times a day.
- And the most common recipe is to mix soda and salt (one teaspoon each) in a glass of warm water, add two to three drops of iodine and rinse several times a day.
Other concomitant medications
Since the protective function of the body decreases with scarlet fever, it is recommended to increase the child's immunity with the help of a complex of vitamins and minerals. In this case, parents can choose the drug on their own, based on their own life experience and family budget. To raise immunity, even the so-called biologically active additives (BAA) are suitable. When choosing a remedy, it is necessary to take into account the age of the small patient, possible allergic reactions, as well as the duration of the course. In this case, it is best to consult a doctor.
Since the treatment of scarlet fever involves the use of antibacterial drugs, it will be useful to think about protecting the intestinal microflora so that dysbacteriosis or any other pathology of the gastrointestinal tract does not develop. To do this, you can use probiotics, such as “Acipol” or “Linex”, or prebiotics, which include “Biovestin-lacto” or “Bifido-tank”.
Why is it important to treat a disease?
A hundred years ago, scarlet fever was able to lead to the death of even the most healthy and strong guys, provoking streptococcal sepsis, mastoiditis or adenophlegmon. However, now, thanks to modern drugs, these complications are reduced to zero.
Therefore, it is very important to treat scarlet fever, since without proper treatment, an ailment can provoke a fatal outcome. And yet, despite the strongest antibiotics, the disease can lead to the development of serious diseases such as otitis media or sinusitis, bronchitis, pneumonia, nephritis, toxic myocarditis, and even infectious pathologies of bone tissue and the brain.
These diseases are complications of scarlet fever. Streptococcus can cause the development of toxic toxic shock, manifested in the form of lowering blood pressure, interruptions in the heart, loss of consciousness and even coma. Due to untimely treatment of tonsillitis, the inflammatory process from the mucous membranes can go to other vital organs and provoke purulent lymphadenitis, abscesses, sepsis and meningitis. Due to the fact that streptococcal antigens are in many respects similar to some human cells, the body's defense system can begin to infect not only viruses and bacteria, but also its own tissues. Because of this, serious pathologies such as rheumatism, nephritis, myocarditis and so on develop.
How long is the disease treated?
Most often, the complex of drug therapy is designed for seven to ten days, and improvement in well-being occurs already during the first week of treatment. Despite this, the child needs a long period of time in order to regain his strength and completely overcome the ailment. Moreover, due to the likelihood of a relapse or the development of complications, a small patient needs a sparing regimen and close monitoring for another month.
Nutrition during the recovery period
During treatment and rehabilitation, you must carefully monitor what your baby eats. During this period, you can not eat a lot of fat and fried, sweet and smoked, spicy and salty. Food should be soft, boiled or steamed, it is not recommended to use foods that cause allergic reactions.
Of course, it is impossible to completely remove sweets and fried foods from the diet of a small patient, especially if these are his favorite treats. Give a little bit to the baby what he loves, otherwise the treatment, even the most effective, will not bring the proper result if the patient does not have a good mood and habitual optimism. However, remember that everything should have a middle ground.
Preventative measures
Unfortunately, vaccines and vaccines have not been invented against scarlet fever, therefore, in order to protect yourself or your child from such a serious ailment, you must try to avoid close contact with infected people. Of course, this is not always possible. Moreover, a potentially dangerous person may not even realize that he is a carrier of streptococcus. Therefore, the best solution in preventing the disease is personal hygiene.
Teach your child to wash their hands thoroughly with soap and water under running water. This must be done immediately upon arrival from the street or before eating.
Also, an important protective measure can be the strengthening of immunity with the help of any drugs, dietary supplements or just a healthy diet.
And of course, do not forget about quarantine. Avoid crowded places, especially if there are cases of scarlet fever in the region. Do not contact with patients. In child care facilities, special weekly quarantines are introduced if cases of infection with scarlet fever have been identified. Do not neglect this wise precaution, and then all the chances of getting sick will be minimized.
If the child has dangerous symptoms, do not panic. Call a doctor at home and follow his recommendations. Timely treatment started is the key to a quick recovery.
We examined the issue of symptoms, treatment and prevention of scarlet fever in children. Photos of the manifestation of the disease were also presented.