“Hong Kong – A scarlet fever outbreak in Hong Kong, thought to be a mutant strain resistant to antibiotics.
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| Scarlet Fever |
Hong Kong officials have recorded 494 cases of scarlet fever this year, more than triple the total for 2010. It is the city’s highest annual total. Thomas Tsang, controller for Hong Kong’s Centre for Health Protection, said: ‘We are facing an epidemic because the bacteria that is causing scarlet fever is widely circulating in this region — not only in Hong Kong but in mainland China and Macau
Scarlet fever (known as scarlatina in older literature references) is an exotoxin-mediated disease arising from group A beta-hemolytic streptococcal infection. Ordinarily, scarlet fever evolves from a tonsillar/pharyngeal focus, although the rash develops in fewer than 10% of cases of "strep throat." The site of bacterial replication tends to be inconspicuous compared to the possible dramatic effects of released toxins. Exotoxin-mediated streptococcal infections range from localized skin disorders (eg, bullous impetigo) to the systemic rash of scarlet fever to the uncommon but highly lethal streptococcal toxic shock syndrome.
