Research progress on scarlet fever epidemic and associated factors / 中华实用儿科临床杂志

ABSTRACT

Scarlet fever is a respiratory disease caused by Group A Streptococcus (GAS). It commonly attacks school children and has no available vaccine currently.The human history, especially European Industrial Revolution and Victorian Era, has witnessed large scale scarlet fever epidemics.Before antibiotics were invented, scarlet fever was once a highly transmissible disease with high mortality about 30%-50%.With the wide use of antibiotics after World War Ⅱ, the incidence and mortality of scarlet fever decrease significantly.Invasive streptococcal infections resurge in Europe and America in 1980s.In the past ten years, the incidence of scarlet fever kept increasing in several countries around the world.In this article, the latest research progress of scarlet fever epidemiology and pathogenesis was reviewed.Meanwhile, potential mechanisms and risk factors for the recently increasing incidence of scarlet fever in various regions were discussed.