Scarlet Fever - and child who can't take antibiotics

[Emr81]

Hi Everyone, hoping I could get some advice, please?

My 5 year old DS can't take antibiotics as he's allergic to them (he's due to have some testing in March to find a type he can take without having a reaction).

It's just come to our knowledge that there's scarlet fever going around at his school and we're pretty worried that if he catches it, there isn't anything (we know of yet) he can take to help fight it off. We're thinking of keeping him home from school tomorrow and getting advice from our GP (though he won't be available until Tuesday).

Just wondering if anyone else has been in this kind of situation and how understanding are schools on this in general? I'm also thinking to call the school and try to have a meeting with them to discuss and see how we can make sure he's still learning from home this week.

Thanks in advance!

There are lots of different antibiotics, Its usually (but not always) the penicillin based ones that are the culprits for allergies. Even if your son is allergic to one kind, there will be an alternative (known as a "second line") available 🙂

FleasAndKeef - Thanks for your input. My DS is allergic to amoxicillin and clarithromycin (that we know of). He's going to do a week long tolerence test for cefalexin in March.

I called the school to explain that I'm keeping him off at least until I can speak with our GP. They were a bit iffy to begin with, giving standard line "If your son isn't sick then he should be in school". After I explained more about the situation they were more understanding, I also asked to get a call back from the TA who is also their health and safety person at school, she deals with the kids who have asthma and allergies and any accidents that happen on school property. We have a pretty good relationship with her already as she was my sons TA last year so I'm hoping she will back us up too.

At the end of the day, I feel it would be negligent of me to send him in and I've told them I'm more than happy to collect homework for him and bring it back throughout the week.

Sounds like your school are being understanding, which is great! Have you managed to speak with your GP yet? Sounds like it should bd worth making a plan together which can be agreed with school as scarlet fever outbreaks are becoming increasingly common in the UK. DOI here, I work in a public health team!

I spoke to our GP today, he said due to my DS's unique situation he doesn't think it's unreasonable for him to be off right now for a few days. In terms of alternative antibiotics, he'll look into it to make sure he's following the latest guidelines. School has been pretty understanding.

Glad to hear you have your GPs support too 🙂 Your GP will know this, but your local public health team may also be able to offer advice based on local protocols. We often deal with scarlet fever outbreaks in schools and the team can offer advice to parents children in special scenarios (usually immunocompromised children but your situation may also be relevant)

Yes, the TA called them up to get further advice alongside the advice she got from the school nurse team. She's really great, she's been so helpful throughout this whole thing. There haven't been any more cases so we're hoping to send our son to school on friday, as the GP said if anyone else were to come down with it (including my DS), it would have been by today or tomorrow, so fingers crossed!

That's great! Fingers crossed for you!

Thank you!