Scarlet Fever
Stuff You Missed in History Class
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Scarlet Fever and Kidney Disease
By 1840, scarlet fever was a leading cause of childhood death in the United States and parts of Europe. Communities often used isolation and quarantine to try to control the diseases spread. In 1887, Dr. Emmanuel Klein published a report saying that he had identified the Streptococcus organism in both people with acute scarletina in London and cows at a milk farm in Hendon. Since Michael Taylor's discovery in 1867, there had been several other outbreaks traced to milk.
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Scarlet fever is treatable with antibiotics, but in the middle of the 19th century, it was the leading cause of death in children in some parts of the world. Today, there are several ongoing mysteries about the disease.
Research:
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- Scamman, Clarence L. “Milk-Borne Septic Sore Throat and Scarlet Fever.” American Journal of Public Health. December 1929. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1581415/
- Lee, Charles A. “Notes on the History and Pathology of Scarlatina.” Boston Medical Journal. 7/22/1835.
- Dick, George F. and Gladys R. Dick. “Immune Reactions in Scarlet Fever.” The Journal of Infectious Diseases, Vol. 19, No. 2 (Aug., 1916).” Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/30080317
- Radikas, Regina and Cindy Connolly. “Young Patients in a Young Nation; Scarlet Fever in Early Nineteenth Century Rural New England.” Pediatric Nursing. January-February 2007.
- Rolleston, J.D. “The History of Scarlet Fever.” The British Medical Journal. 11/24/1928.
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