Erysipelas and scarlet fever

Rozsa Rozsa - is a form of streptococcal infection, which is characterized by a kind of defeat the lymphatic and circulatory systems of the skin or mucous membranes and is characterized by progressive inflammation of them.

The Russian name of the disease "erysipelas" has two interpretations: on the one hand it can occur from the word "erysipelas"( face) and indicate the disfigurement of the patient;On the other - from the old German name of Rose's disease( "pink"), indicating the color of the skin in this disease.

source of infection erysipelas can be patient with any form of streptococcal infection or carrier, but susceptible to erysipelas small and very selective. Some people have a pronounced predisposition, and they can get sick many times, but most people do not get sick with erysipelas. Immunity after the transferred erysipelas does not develop, therefore for erysipelas the tendency to repeated diseases is characteristic.

Infection of erysipelas occurs by penetration of streptococcus from the outside with an entrance gate, that is, if the integrity of the skin or mucous membranes is impaired. The disease can spread from the already existing in the body foci of streptococcal infection. Predisposition to erysipelas increases with a decrease in total body resistance -. Undertemperature, malnutrition etc.

instagram viewer


Streptococcus penetrates into the lymphatic vessels in the skin and cause skin inflammation that is manifested by edema, vivid hyperemia and infiltration( i.e. tissue like impregnated with a liquid permeation of blood vessel).Streptococcal toxin action on the blood vessels in inflammation is that developing vasculitis - an inflammation of blood vessels, both arteries( arteries) and veins( phlebitis), which promotes thrombosis and lymph stagnation. Early treatment with penicillin causes the death of streptococcus, and the pathological process does not have time to lead to inflammatory changes in the vessels.

The inflammatory process often develops on the face or on the lower legs, but can occur on any part of the body. Depending on the depth of the lesions, erythematous and bullous forms of erysipelas are isolated. The latter is much more difficult.

Improvement occurs within a few hours after initiation of penicillin therapy, and after 2-3 days local manifestations pass. Underestimated doses of antibiotics and their premature cancellation do not provide a hollow cure and contribute to the retention of a latent infection, resulting in relapses. Frequent recurrences of erysipelas on the same site can lead to disruption of lymphatic circulation in this place, proliferation of connective tissue and a serious complication of erysipelas - elephantiasis. Scarlet fever Scarlet fever


- a streptococcal infection, which is characterized by local inflammation and the body's response to the rash toxin( erythrogenic toxin hemolytic streptococcus).The main symptoms of scarlet fever include: general intoxication, small-point rash, limited hyperemia( reddening) of throat.

In the role of sources of infection in scarlet fever are streptococcal carriers, as well as those who have become ill with scarlet fever or another form of streptococcal infection. Patients with scarlet fever are contagious from the very beginning of the disease and until its final cure. In other forms of streptococcal infection, only those patients whose disease is caused by certain types of streptococcus( toxigenic strains) are contagious.

transmitted infections by airborne droplets, but, unlike measles or chicken pox, scarlet fever can be infected only by close contact( for example, if you are in the same room or a room with a patient).The infection does not spread to neighboring rooms, because outside the body the microbe loses its virulence and becomes incapable of causing the disease.

Susceptibility to scarlet fever has an age factor. Due to their physiological characteristics, newborns and toddlers of the first months of life practically do not react to micron toxins, including streptococcal ones. Even in case of infection with a toxigenic strain of streptococcus, they develop other forms of streptococcal infection, not associated with scarlet fever.

With age, the susceptibility to scarlet fever increases. A child of two or three years old can already get scarlet fever. The peak incidence falls on the age of three to eight years. Then comes the period when the susceptibility to scarlet fever again decreases. In people over the age of fifteen, it is generally practically absent.

The incubation period for scarlet fever can last from a few hours to a week( on average it is four days).Usually the entrance gates of infection are the palatine tonsils, in 2-3% of cases - burns or wound surface( burn and wound scarlet fever).

The onset of the disease is acute: the body temperature rises to 37.8 degrees and above, the state of health worsens. Some patients complain of abdominal pain, vomiting, nausea. There is pain when swallowing and other signs of acute tonsillitis. Scarlet fever is characterized by a sharp hyperemia( reddening) of the tonsils. Often, red dots appear on the hard sky. The tongue is laid, its tip is bright red. The cheeks turn red and swell, the skin in the nasolabial triangle pale.

On the first and second day after the onset of scarlet fever, a typical small-scale rash appears - first on the neck and upper part of the trunk, then further along the entire trunk and extremities. The rash is always brighter and thicker in the armpits, elbows, inguinal and popliteal folds, on the inner surfaces of the thighs and in the lower abdomen and. With wound and burn scarlet fever, the rash first appears around the damaged skin. The rash remains bright for three days, then it turns pale and turns into lamellar ecdysis. After a week, skin manifestations disappear, by the fifth to the tenth day of the disease, the temperature normalizes. The language, which is initially heavily laden, to the second - the third day begins to clear and takes on a natural appearance.

The complications of scarlet fever are divided into septic and allergic.

Septic complications are inflammatory changes associated with the effects of streptococcus. Allergic complications are changes caused by exposure to the allergen in the form of albuminous products of streptococcus decay.

To complications of a septic character include: lymphadenitis, adenophlegmon, otitis, necrotic angina, etc. Purulent infection can spread to the lungs, bones and tissues of any organ.

Allergic complications are a lesion of the kidneys, heart and joints.

Renal damage is a diffuse glomerulonephritis that develops in the second to third week of the disease. Quick elimination of purulent complications allows avoiding changes in the kidneys.

The defeat of the heart muscle in the initial period of the disease is characterized by intoxication, which is reversible, that is, with the improvement of the patient's condition, cardiac functions are normalized. At the end of the second - the beginning of the third week of the disease, allergic myocarditis develops, the course of which has been going on for a longer time.

Joint damage is noted in the form of synovitis - serous inflammation of synovial joints. First of all, the small joints of the hands and feet are affected - they swell and become painful. Inflammation quickly passes without any treatment, but serves as an alarm bell, indicating a high likelihood of developing rheumatism.

All forms of streptococcal infection are easily transmitted by airborne droplets. Prevention of streptococcal infection is difficult due to the large number of erased forms of the disease.

Stay healthy!