Peeling of the outer layer of skin, however, will happen despite treatment. One of the main goals of treatment is to prevent the child from developing one of the suppurative or nonsuppurative complications, especially acute rheumatic fever. As long as antibiotics are started within nine days, it is very unlikely for the child to develop acute rheumatic fever. Antibiotic therapy has not been shown to prevent the development of post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis. Another important reason for prompt treatment with antibiotics is the ability to prevent transmission of the infection between children. An infected individual is most likely to pass on the infection to another person during the first 2 weeks. A child is no longer contagious (able to pass the infection to another child) after 24 hours of antibiotics.The antibiotic of choice is Penicillin V which is taken by mouth. In countries without a liquid Penicillin V product, children unable to take tablets can be given amoxicillin which comes in a liquid form and is equally effective. Duration of treatment is 10 days. Benzathine penicillin G can be given as a one time intramuscular injection as another alternative if swallowing pills is not possible. If the person is allergic to the family of antibiotics which both penicillin and amoxicillin are a part of (beta-lactam antibiotics), a first generation cephalosporin is used. Cephalosporin antibiotics, however, can still cause adverse reactions in people whose allergic reaction to penicillin is a Type 1 Hypersensitivity reaction. In those cases it is appropriate to choose clindamycin or erythromycin instead.
Karelitz and Stempien discovered that extracts from human serum globulin and placental globulin can be used as lightening agents for scarlet fever and this was used later as the basis for the Dick test. The association of scarlet fever and bacteriophages was described in 1926 by Cantacuzène (Ioan Cantacuzino) and Bonciu.An antitoxin for scarlet fever was developed in 1924. The first toxin which causes this disease was cloned and sequenced in 1986 by Weeks and Ferretti. The discovery of penicillin and its subsequent widespread use has significantly reduced the mortality of this once feared disease. Reports of cases of scarlet fever have been on the rise in countries including England, Wales, South Korea, Vietnam, China, and Hong Kong in recent years. Researchers are unsure as to what has caused the spike in cases of the disease. The Dick test
The Dick test, invented in 1924 by George F. Dick and Gladys Dick, was used to identify those susceptible to scarlet fever. The Dick test consisted of injecting a diluted strain of the streptococci known to cause scarlet fever into a persons skin. A local reaction in the skin at the site of injection appeared in people who were susceptible to developing scarlet fever. The reaction was most notable around 24 hours after the injection but could be seen as early as 4 hours. If no reaction was seen in the skin, then that person was assumed to have already developed immunity to the disease and was not at risk of developing it. References


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