A month ago I took my 7-year-old to the pediatrician because she had a rash and low fever. Dr. was convinced she had fifths but I asked him to check her for strep because her best friend had strep. He was shocked when the test came back positive. He said it doesn't look like a strep rash/scarlet fever. I talked to the school nurse and she told me she had seen an epidemic of kids with rashes. I suggested she urge parents to test for strep because they need antibiotics.
The weird thing was my 11 year old got it from her sister weeks ago. Her rash went away but now it has come back this week. Maybe she has had fifths and strep?
A child can have a strep throat and then it may go away but the child may develop rheumatic fever and even heart damage if it isn't treated in a timely fashion.
The doctor there suggested a throat culture AFTER the antibiotics, to make sure it was all gone. My family doctor and the ENT specialist both said it was ridiculous, but I made them check us all...turns out that (1) the "flu" they said I had was strep, (2) the strep was resistant to the antibiotic the doctor had been treating my son with.
They then treated us with 10 days of an antibiotic that would kill this strain, then did more throat cultures. Mine was gone, my son's was almost, but not quite gone. They gave him 3 more days of antibiotics, checked again, it was gone - and he never got his tonsils out, and he hasn't [knock on wood] had strep in the 5 years since.