Scarlet fever is a serious disease, but it starts out quite harmlessly. How to distinguish the children's disease from a normal sore throat? How should your child be treated?
The name scarlet fever is derived from the color scarlet, which is also the most recognizable sign of this disease for parents: a reddened throat and later a red tongue and red skin rash. It is with 50.000 annual cases not a rare disease: on average, more than 6% of all children under the age of 5 get scarlet fever each year.
Red throat
At the beginning, your child has common cold signs such as fever, malaise, and especially sore throat. Often the tonsils are also already swollen and inflamed. At the latest when you see whitish coatings on your child's tongue and the child complains of difficulty swallowing, you should consult a doctor. As the disease progresses, the coatings dissolve. A bright red tongue appears underneath – the so-called raspberry tongue.