My 3 kids all went through there own private hell's each with the dreaded strep. Its not the first time they had it, not likely the last. However my 5 year old was first to get it. I took her in for a culture, and was told it had too low of a count to warrant antibiotics, and she was on the last leg of it and is getting better. It was up to me for the antibiotics if I wanted them. Now this was not my regular doctor, but an ER doc. Since she had a 105 temp during the night.
I am not a fearful mom as far as minor infections, and felt fairly safe in the decisions not to do antibiotics. However everyone I talked to and told this about, gasped in shock and horror that I didn't get medicine for my daughter. (she was given throat lozenges, and tylenol for the pain and fever, I am not a total monster). They all were convinced my daughter would develop Scarlet Fever. I have heard of it, I have heard its not great, I also have heard it can come despite giving your kids antibiotics or not. So when I mention this to most of the tut-tutters they still give me, the horrible mommy look. DAGGERS I say.
So when my 3 year old and 1 year old got it, they went in, had the cultures and were given antibiotics. Ok thats fine. Though not really sure if this has anything to do with it, they were sick with other things and longer on the medicine than my first daughter was with out it. It took her all of 3 days to be over it and completely back to normal. It took the other two about 5 days. So not sure if there is a correlation there. I just was wondering how common is it to get Scarlet Fever from purposely NOT treating Strep Throat with Antibiotics. Anyone here have or have kids that had Scarlet Fever? or even Rheumatoid Fever?
my children dont eat beef, or red meat but I understand what your getting at Chicken and fish are probably loaded as well. I just opted not to get it since as a kid I used to get it all the time. I never had antibiotics for it except once when I wasnt getting better. My parents were old school so I just thought it was ok to go with out.
Dawn, freaky stuff. Shes already over it though. Was the scarlet because of untreated strep or she just got it.
My daughter is a carrier and I don't mess with strep. It can effect the heart and kidneys if not treated. I always get a antibiotic for it. That's me though!
My friends little girl had untreated strep that almost caused her to need dialysis. What happened was it had come back and they didn't realize it and she had it for a while-when she had blood in her urine they finally took her in. and she was really sick at that point Strep is not something to mess with. I would have your daughter tested again. IT is not always symptomatic-my son has had it several times without the typical sore throat.
Strep Throat's my thing. I've been getting it since I was a child. Once, as an adult, I got it four times in one year. I never mess around with it. I go immediately and get on antibiotics. First of all, it's incredibly painful. It feels like you're swallowing glass. You don't even want to swallow your own spit, that's how bad it is.
I am surprised to hear that the ER doc gave you the option of the antibiotics or not. Last year I went in for Strep and the doctor told me I was on the 'verge' of strep and gave me some weak penicillin. One week later, I came back w/ full-blown strep and had to start another round of stronger meds. So she basically prolonged my illness and being out of work.
Anyway, yes although rare, untreated strep throat can lead to heart damage from rheumatic fever. Untreated, strep throat can quickly lead to a more severe illness such as rheumatic fever (a serious heart condition) or acute nephritis (which can damage your kidneys) -- and both of these can be fatal.
I would have said 'yes' to the antibiotics because I'm very well-acquainted w/ the illness personally. And as far as antibiotic resistance goes and doctors being leery of over-prescribing, it's my personal feeling that this is happening from overloading our beef with antibiotics.
I've had strep a number of times, and one time I did get "scarletina" ......... basically a milder form of scarlet fever. I didn't delay on the antibiotics... I started feeling sick on Saturday, and on Sunday, I noticed the rash.
Sometimes the strep bacteria forms a toxin, and that is what causes the rash.....
This case of strep was much tougher than the other ones I had had..... it didn't go away as quickly... we left for Texas (orientation trip for an up-coming move) on Thursday.... and I ended up in a minor-med center Friday night with a mouthful of cold sores...... I had never had cold sores before that, and have only had them maybe once or twice since then (that strep infection was January 1992). It may have also been because I was just run down... my son was just 2 months old (born the day after hubby was told he was being transferred), my father died 2 weeks prior to the strep infection.... lots of things just came crashing down.
Later that year, after that move, I ended up with back-to-back Pneumonia! First mycoplasmal pneumonia, then bacterial pneumonia. Over all, not a good year, health wise.
Wow Mallory! Scary stuff! - M., I second Mallory on what she is saying about getting your daughter re-tested. My kids got strep without a fever, and sometimes without the terrible sore throats too. And sometimes the only hint of strep can be an upset stomach, as strange as that sounds. And, scarlet fever can be caused by impetigo, which produces the strep toxin Malia is talking about.
To answer your question, M., it was from strep. I should have clarified by saying "misdiagnose" instead of "undiagnosed". SuzanneL gives a very helpful link from the Mayo Clinic explaining the cause of scarlet fever. Thank God she didn't end up with rheumatic fever instead!
Original:
My sister got scarlet fever from undiagnosed strep. It was awful. Her skin sloughed off - she looked like a zombie from the movies, truly.
She was only 5 years old. It scared the beejeebers out of me (I'm a lot older than her.)
It also affected her joints and she couldn't walk for 3 weeks. I'm not kidding, M., it's serious.
I never pass up an opportunity to have a strep test done. In fact, I chose peds who had quick strep tests because of this.
Get the antibiotics. I would never not treat after what my sister went through.
Dawn
My oldest son has had Scarlet Fever twice from having strep throat. He was miserable each time.
My daughter came down with Scarlet Fever totally independently from Strep Throat (she has never had Strep Throat). I believe she got it climbing around in those nasty hamster-tunnel maze things they have at Chuck E Cheese (ugh... never again!). Anyway, she went to bed totally fine, and woke up with the nastiest case of Scarlet Fever you've ever seen. Fever of 105, bright red rash all over, unresponsive and listless. It was my impression from the ER doc we saw that Scarlet Fever and Strep Throat, while technically caused by the same bacteria, are not exactly the same. Whatever bacteria my daughter came into contact with was so bad that it skipped all of the normal strep-related illnesses and went straight to overwhelming her system. So I'd have to say that it can't be THAT often that Strep Throat turns into Scarlet Fever, based solely on my own experience.
I've never heard of anyone getting scarlett fever from strep. As a child, I would get strep a minimum of twice a year, sometime up to 5 times a year. It's really not a big deal if medical care is provided.
Strep is the cause of scarlet fever. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/scarlet-fever/DS00917
One of our daughters got scarlet fever at age 5, had the rash, the tongue and when I saw the rash I immediately took her to the doctor knowing it was strep. She was very sick, toes and fingers pealed and I was so concerned seeing a 5 year old in bed and not wanting to even get up or play. The first day back to school, kindergarten, I didn't know they were going to the zoo. She came home and went right to bed and slept until the next morning. It's nothing to mess around with and neither is strep. If you need to take antibiotics to get rid of strep then please do. Also it can be passed around in families and there is often someone who is a carrier and may not even show signs of having it but is passing it around. You may need to get everyone checked.
EDIT: My daughter didn't even have a sore throat so keep that in mind with strep.
