Are You Afraid of Scarlet Fever?

[lauradbg]

Are you afraid of scarlet fever?

There are vaccines in development for it right now. Does your doctor ever mention it to you? Do you talk about it with your family or friends? Does it occur to anyone to even think about it, at all, ever?

Let's all keep our eyes and ears open and see how and when discussion of scarlet fever begins in earnest. Let's see how the scare tactics start. Let's hear what the language is, what words they choose.

What do you think the spin will be?

[Marnica]

To answer all thoe questions......no no and no

I bet as soon as a vaccine is approved, SF will be describes as a killer and all of a sudden the CDC will have numbers and statistics of how many people die opf SF every year...it will undoubtedly be added to the infant schedule as welll.

Any disease that there is not a vaccine for is not as "scary" as one that there is one for. It may be a pssing thought here and there, but the nation is not obsessed with it.

[mommabear207]

no. i had it. and strep throat at the same time. no biggie. even my dr said these days its mild not like it use to be.

[Romana]

I had scarlet fever as a kid because there was one year where I kept getting sick and finally my mother didn't believe me anymore . . . until I showed her the rash and said, "Look, I really am sick, can I go to the doctor now?"

It didn't cause any permanent damage and while I was sick, it was a mild illness, treatable with antibiotics. Isn't scarlet fever just strep throat that hasn't been treated and persists or is a bit more complicated?

So no, I'm not afraid of scarlet fever or strep throat, provided we have access to antibiotics that work. I'm not afraid of chicken pox, either (at least not in a kid).

[poppan]

I don't even know what scarlet fever is, really. My best friend had it when she was a baby. Her mom talks about how she "almost died" and her skin peeled off in big sheets. But I was not and am not now scared of it, mostly because I'd never heard of anyone else having it, and obviously, my friend did live to tell the tale (or her mom gets to tell it anyway).

[Calidris]

I thought it used to be really serious and then mutated into something less serious?

Off to wiki....

[earthmama369]

I had scarlet fever when I was about 20 weeks pregnant. Fun times.

You don't "catch" scarlet fever. It's a secondary infection from untreated step A, iirc. I had a sore throat starting about two weeks before, that lasted maybe 10 days. It wasn't too bad, I was avoiding meds because I was pregnant, and it didn't feel like the other cases of strep I've had, so I drank tea with honey and figured it would go away. It was basically asymptomatic strep and if I'd recognized it and done the antibiotics (strep is one of the few things I think antibiotics are really useful for), I wouldn't have gotten scarlet fever.

But still, while it sucked royally, it wasn't at all life-threatening and it's one of the safer illnesses to get while pregnant in that, if you treat it within a reasonable amount of time, there's no known affect on the fetus. I took a course of antibiotics, upped my probiotics, and lived in an oatmeal bath for a week. The rash was painfully itchy and was pretty horrible, but it went away. No scars, no big deal.

[SunshineJ]

Originally Posted by earthmama369

You don't "catch" scarlet fever. It's a secondary infection from untreated step A, iirc.

This. Scarlet fever *was* a killer a long time ago. According to my grandparents it was one of the single most feared illnesses to go around. My grandmother used to tell of her little sister who died from it when she was 2. About 10 years ago my adult aunt came down with it. The dr told her that really all it was was essentially an old strep infection, gave her a round of antibiotics and it was cleared up in no time. It's not a big deal anymore with the antibiotics we have today (and it's very possible it's mutated to something less severe, I don't have any knowledge of that aspect). Of course, she called my grandfather to tell her what the dr said and he literally almost had a stroke on the spot when he heard just the mention of the words "Scarlett Fever". She never was very tactful.

I can't begin to comprehend why we would need a vaccine for something like this. That's like coming up with a strep vaccine! Sure strep is annoying and uncomfortable, but if treated can be cleared up in just a couple days with no lingering effects for most people. Scarlett Fever is much less common and can now be treated with the same effectiveness. You watch, this will be the next great "killer" we need to protect against.

[stik]

Strep, which causes Scarlet Fever, is a bacteria, not a virus. Where did you hear that "they" were working on a vaccine for it? I didn't think it was possible to make vaccines for bacterial illnesses.

Scarlet Fever was pretty scary when there were no antibiotics. I would be worried about it if there was an antibiotic resistant strain.

[aprildawn]

I have an uncle who died of scarlet fever when he was 14. My biological dad died of a heart aneurysm caused by rheumatic fever he had as a child. Both incidents happened before I was born. From what I understand, untreated strep throat can progress to scarlet fever and eventually to rheumatic fever.

My mom freaks out at the very mention of strep throat. I would not give my kids a vaccine for scarlet fever.

[Lysa]

I had scarlet fever when I was about 4. I know it was very scary for my parents, but I don't remember anything other than being at the doctor a lot. I know that one of the concerns is that scarlet fever and rheumatic fever can both cause heart problems.

Would *I* vax for it? NO.

[alegna]

Originally Posted by stik

Strep, which causes Scarlet Fever, is a bacteria, not a virus. Where did you hear that "they" were working on a vaccine for it? I didn't think it was possible to make vaccines for bacterial illnesses.

There are several bacterial vaccines on the market and on the schedule now- Hib, prevnar, etc.

-Angela

[FernG]

Originally Posted by stik

I didn't think it was possible to make vaccines for bacterial illnesses.

Several vaccines target bacteria - Hib, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, Prevnar, Menengocal (sp). I think that all, and you could argue that DTaP targets the toxoid component of the diseases, but each component is still bacterial rather than viral.

[FernG]

They were apparently experimenting with strep (scarlet fever) vaccines in the '30s...

http://www.jimmunol.org/cgi/content/abstract/31/5/373

[Doodlebugsmom]

My dd had Scarlet fever in November, and it really wasn't too bad. She started with a minor sore throat and was in bed with a fever for a couple days. Then came the rash. She looked absolutely horrible, very pale and had the strawberry tongue. At that point I decided we should head to the doctor. She tested positive for strep, which we treated with amoxicillan. (It was her first antibiotic at almost 7 years old!) She was feeling better soon after. All in all, she was down and out for about 5 days. Not something I would remotely consider vaxxing for.

Oh, and I was never worried for dd's life or anything while all of this was going on.

[Sileree]

My DP's older brother had it. He survived.

[Sileree]

"Let's all keep our eyes and ears open and see how and when discussion of scarlet fever begins in earnest. Let's see how the scare tactics start. Let's hear what the language is, what words they choose."

Yeah, I will definitely be interested to see how this goes...

[ChristSavesAll]

Funny cause they don't even mention death here...

http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/s...topic-overview

Am I scared of scarlet fever? No
Am I scared of the scarlet fever vax? You bet I am.

[jjawm]

Nope. It's very easy to treat.

[mamaofthree]

Scarlet Fever is Strep. my dd had it a couple times. i know when my grandma found out she was so worried, but then strep was a big deal back when she was a kid. now it can be treated with antibiotics. (i am sure there might be more natural methods, but that is what we use when we get strep).

h