Scarlet fever is caused by a group A streptococcal (GAS) infection. On April 3, 2017, an outbreak among children in a kindergarten was reported to the local health department. An epidemiologic investigation was conducted to identify the possible transmission route of this outbreak and to recommend appropriate control measures. MATERIALS AND
The index case-patients developed symptoms on March 28, 2017, and this outbreak persisted over a period of 16 days. The outbreak affected 21 out of 158 children (13.3%) in the kindergarten, with the mean age of 4.2 (range 3–5) years; 12 (57.1%) of them were boys. The common symptoms reported were fever (71.4%), sore throat (71.4%), reddened tonsil (57.1%), and skin rash (52.4%). The epidemiologic analysis showed that children attending one of the classrooms in the kindergarten were 14.12 times affected than the other classrooms (relative risk, 14.12; 95% confidence interval, 4.99–33.93; P 24 hours after starting appropriate antibiotictreatment, and all the children in the kindergarten were instructed to keep strict personal hygiene practices.
CONCLUSION:
Our results suggest that the outbreak likely affected from the index case-patientswho attended to one of the classrooms in the kindergarten. This highlights the importance of immediate notification of outbreak to prevent large number of patients.