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Sore throat, bright red patches on the skin, fever, reddish face and red, inflamed tongue with a raspberry appearance are some of the main symptoms caused by scarlet fever, an infectious disease caused by bacteria.
This disease, especially affects children up to 15 years of age, and usually appears 2 to 5 days after contamination, because it depends on the response of the individual's immune system.
Main symptoms of scarlet fever
Some of the main symptoms of scarlet fever include:
- Throat pain and infection;
- High fever above 39ºC;
- Itchy skin;
- Bright red dots on the skin, similar to a pinhead;
- Reddish face and mouth;
- Red and inflamed tongue with raspberry color;
- Nausea and vomiting;
- Headache;
- General malaise;
- Lack of appetite;
- Dry cough.
In most cases, after starting treatment, symptoms begin to subside after 24 hours, and at the end of 6 days of treatment the red spots on the skin disappear and the skin peels off.
Diagnosis of Scarlet fever
The diagnosis of Scarlet fever can be made by the doctor through a physical exam where the symptoms are observed. Scarlet fever is suspected if the baby or child has a fever, sore throat, bright red spots and blisters on the skin or a red, inflamed tongue.
To confirm suspicions of scarlet fever, the doctor uses a quick lab kit to perform a test that detects infections by Streptococcus in the throat or you can take a saliva sample to be analyzed in the laboratory. In addition, another way to diagnose this disease is to order a blood test to assess the levels of white blood cells in the blood, which, if elevated, indicate the presence of an infection in the body.