How to distinguish whether the child has Scarlet Fever or Measles

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Medical Video: Scarlet Fever: Signs of Scarlet Fever

Do you have experience when your child has scarlet fever? This one fever is indeed not as beautiful as its name, because if it is not handled properly it will cause a variety of complications.

Fever is the body's mechanism to fight infection. Infection can be a disorder of a disease or something else. For this reason, you need to understand how to treat fever in children. At home, you must also provide a thermometer to measure the child's most accurate temperature.

One thing that is not less important is that you have to know some fever that might be experienced by your baby. Have you ever heard of scarlet fever? This one fever is clearly different from normal fever, and this one fever is contagious.

What is scarlet fever and what are the symptoms?

Scarlet fever, aka scarlet fever, also known as scarlatina, is a disease caused by the infection of group A. beta hemolytic bacterial streptococcus. This disease symptoms of fever and rash, so it is often confusing because there are many other diseases with fever and rashes like measles, rubella, dengue, roseola infantum, kawasaki, or others.

Everyone has the risk of having scarlet fever. However, the most common cases of scarlet fever are children 5 years to 18 years. Usually, this disease will begin with features such as fever, sore throat, vomiting, headache, weakness, and shivering.

Within 12-24 hours a typical rash will occur. The rash that appears will turn pale when pressed. This rash will first appear on the neck, chest and then spread throughout the body in 24 hours. A few days later, the rash disappears and the child's skin feels like sandpaper or rough, then becomes blackish.

In a doctor's examination, the child who has this fever, the tonsils will look enlarged, reddish, and also found a grayish white image in them. The tongue will appear very red and swollen, this is characteristic of scarlet fever. It is not surprising that in the end it was named strawberry tongue.

Differentiate scarlet fever from measles

Although scarlet fever initially looks like measles, this can be distinguished by the course of the disease. For example, measles is always accompanied by a cold cough, conjunctivitis or inflammation of the eye, and from the examination the doctor will find a spot coplic.

Whereas in scarlet fever, another symptom that accompanies is sore throat. Also seen from the rash is different, the measles rash will appear from behind the ear, while scarlet fever will appear on the neck.

Prevent scarlet fever in a simple way

For prevention, there are a number of things you need to pay attention to. This is as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, namely by maintaining the cleanliness of the environment and self. Therefore, you as a parent must introduce and familiarize children to do the 4 things below.

  • Wash your hands regularly regularly
  • Avoid dividing glasses or eating utensils with other people
  • Use a mask when the child coughs or has a cold
  • Teach children to cover their mouth and nose when sneezing

Scarlet fever may not be considered a 'trivial' disease because it can provide various complications. Starting from tonsil abscesses, middle ear canal infections, to rheumatic fever in the heart and acute glomerulonephritis in the kidneys. Death can occur in this severe complication.

How to distinguish whether the child has Scarlet Fever or Measles
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