StreptococcusScarlet Fever

Abi PetersJanuary 2009

Streptococcus

Genus of spherical, gram – positive, aerobic bacteria

Belongs to the phylum Firmicutes and the lactic acid bacteria group

Occur in pairs or chains Cellular division occurs along a

single axis → chains Name comes from a Greek

word which means easily bent or twisted like a chain

Transmitting Streptococcus

Direct contact from person to person: droplets of spray from the infected person or holding hands

Indirect contact: touching something that the infected person has touched and used like silverware

Entering The Body

Streptococcus usually enters the body through the mouth or nose traveling through the respiratory tract

It travels through the body and lays between the cells and the skin tissues in most cases

Then the bacteria produces a toxin that causes several infections to occur

Common Diseases

Strep throat Impetigo

Erysipelas Cellulitis

Necrotizing Fasciitis Wound Infections

Toxic Shock Syndrome Puerperal Fever Rheumatic Fever

Glomerulonephritis

Scarlet Fever

Infectious disease caused by streptococcus

The bacteria infects the throat, produces a toxin → scarlet fever

Originally called Febris Scarlatina – from Latin

Most common in children between two and ten

Once very serious but now easily treatable

Through the Ages

Some descriptions of scarlet fever date back to Ancient Greece about 2,500 years ago

Many historians and physicians wonder if the plague of Athens which broke out in 430B.C.E. was caused by an outbreak of group A streptococci

More descriptions found in the 10th century by Arab physicians

First detailed paper written in 1553 by Italian physician Giovanni Filippo Ingrassia who called the disease “rossalia”

Lethal Epidemics

1824 – Tours, France 1831 – Dublin, Ireland 1832 – 1833 – Georgia, United States

In some areas of England and the United States Scarlet fever was lethal and feared in the mid 1900’s. If someone became infected with scarlet fever they would be reported to the local police and hospital. They were usually quarantined as this sign from Connecticut says.

Thomas Sydenham (1624 – 1689)

English Physician Educated at the University of Oxford Differentiated scarlet fever and measles

Symptoms

Sore throatFever above 101ºFBright red tongue –

“strawberry color”Peeling of the skin

around the finger tips

The Rash

Appears 1-2 days after the toxin is released into the body and 12-48 hours after the fever

Starts on the neck and chest and spreads out over the body except over the face

Fine, tiny, red bumps “Sandpapery” texture Lasts for about a week and

then fades slowly - fading may take up to a month

Diagnosis

Blood culture is rarely positiveThroat culture is usually most successfulThe rash is also important in diagnosis –

the texture is more important than the look

George Fredrick Dick (1881 – 1967)

American bacteriologist and pathologist Earned his M.D. degree from Rush Medical

Collage in Chicago In 1924 Dick and his wife determined that scarlet

fever was produced by a toxin form the hemolytic streptococcus bacterium group by inoculating people with a strain of the bacteria

Then discovered an antitoxin for the disease

Treatment

George Fredrick Dick developed the vaccine in the 1920’s

Penicillin was then developed in the 1940’s

Lots of rest is the best treatment

A person with scarlet fever should not be infectious after 24 hours on antibiotics

This picture shows the lasting red checks that scarlet fever leaves for up to three months

Bibliography

Smith, Tara. Streptococcus(Group A). Deadly Diseases and Epidemics. 2005.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000974.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

Scarlet Fever Streptococcus Gram Positive

http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia Thomas Sydenham George Fredrick Dick Scarlet Fever Streptococcus