scarlet fever

[whymummy]

i think dd has it,i took her to the doctors on tuesday with a sore throat and rash all over her body and the doctor said it was tonsilitis and gave her antibiotics,she said the rash was part of the virus,the rash got worse and her tongue is full of little spots so i looked at scarlet fever symptoms and that's exactly what i think she has,the question is,would she need different antibiotics or will the ones for tonsilitis do,she's had the rash for 4 days now.
thank you

I had scarlet fever as a teenager. You should ask for a home visit as it is contagious. I felt much iller in the run up to it than I did once the spots were out.

oh noi've had to take her with me to get ds to school,i did keep her well away from other children,do you know how long it's contagious for?
thanks gggglimpopo

Think ds just had the usual ab's for his scarlet fever. However it is a development of strep throat and very contagious so I'd suggest you should revisit the gp anyway to confirm. ds ' rash cleared within a couple of days but it was very rough and needed moisturising.

The anti-b's should be fine as scarlet fever is caused by Strep A which causes tonsilitis too.

My ds had scarlet fever when he was 5 and was pretty poorly for the first few days - the rash has a distinctive sandpapery feel to it and the skin often peels after a few days.

Hope your dd feels better soon whymummy.

It is contagious for up to 48 hours after starting AB's but think you need to get an accurate diagnosis.

Scarlet fever used to be a 'notifiable' illness - not sure if that's still the case.

general info
If I remember correctly, it is a notifiable disease - harking back to the days when vast swathes of the population would be infected. I understand that antibiotic tx has changed all that but that public health still has to be notified, hence home visit from a gp. I was at university and was hospitalised because I lived in a student house and there was no one around to look after me. Went out with this lovely medical student as a result. Happy days!

thanks everyone,the doctor has just told me to take her back,so i'm off now,i will let you know later
thanks again

we're back and the doctor(different one this time)said that it was difficult to tell as it is the same strep. virus and to continue with the same antibiotics,thanks everyone