Resurgence of Scarlet Fever in the UK: This is the Real Deal

Scalatiniform rash. Source: NHS UK

And recently I just blogged about the folly of declaring victory on infectious disease!

This paper recently published in the Lancet Infectious Diseases reports a 3 fold increase in the incidence of scarlet fever in the UK. The cause is unclear and not driven by a dominant circulating strain of Group A streptococcus. Drug resistance is not the cause and and neither is malnutrition nor poverty.

The increase in scarlet fever is real and is the greatest seen in the last 50 years. 

The microbes are one step ahead of us (again).