Scarlet fever--the value of microbiological global surveillance

A few years ago we were all confronted by an increase in cases of scarlet fever and a number of cases of more invasive and severe Streptococcal infections. It was interesting to read that due to a very well established global surveillance system, this raise in Streptococcal pyogenes (S pyogenes) infections has been described in detail by Lynsky NN et al. [Lancet Infect Dis 2019; 19: 1209–18 https://ift.tt/2NpEMdE] First, this is a great paper on scarlet fever and is a very interesting historical review. Up until the beginning of the 20th century it was associated a significant mortality. Long before the use of antibiotics, the incidence and severity of scarlet fever started to fall, the reason for this remains unexplained. Scarlet fever notifications in England in the period 2014–18 have been the highest seen since 1960. It is possible that the streptococcal bacteria causing the disease might...

from Archives of Disease in Childhood current issue https://ift.tt/3300DhH