Free Republic

Parents are being warned to look out for signs of scarlet fever in their children, with more cases of the illness reported this year than since 1982, health officials said. The highly contagious infection mainly affects young children and is not usually serious if treated.

The age-old killer scarlet fever is on the rise in England and East Asia, according to research published Monday in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal, and investigators don't know why. "Whilst current rates (in England) are nowhere near those seen in the early 1900s, the magnitude of the recent upsurge is greater than any documented in the last century," said study author Theresa Lamagni of Public Health England, the agency that funded the analysis. "Whilst notifications so far for 2017 suggest a slight decrease in numbers, we continue to monitor the situation carefully ... and research continues to further investigate...

Scurvy, tuberculosis, scarlet fever may conjure up images of a Charles Dickens tale. However, diseases of the Victorian Era are re-emerging in modern day Britain. ... TB is one disease often synonymous with poverty, affecting the most vulnerable. However, health officials warn strains of the disease lie undetected in all parts of modern society and could break out in the future. ... In fact, over the last five years in England, cases of scarlet fever have risen 136%, scurvy by 38% and cholera by 300%, though for scurvy and cholera the numbers are very small. So why the resurgence? "Reduced...

SEOUL, Nov. 15 (Yonhap) -- Scarlet fever has been spreading fast in North Korea for nearly a month and is showing signs of becoming a full-blown pandemic despite efforts by North Korean authorities to contain the disease, a source close to the North said Wednesday. The disease first broke out in the communist state's northern Yanggang Province last month, but is quickly spreading to other parts of the country, the source told Yonhap News Agency on condition of anonymity.