Scarlet Fever

Name of the Student
Professor’s Name
Biology
4th December, 2015
Scarlet Fever
Introduction
Scarlet fever is an infectious disease caused by a bacterium Streptococcus pyrogens (which is also called Group A Streptococci). The disease is caused due to the liberation of toxic substances released by the bacterium. The disease primarily affects children, and also leads to glomerulonephritis or endocarditis if the infection is not managed. The disease is caused by the liberation of exotoxins that are not inherited within the bacterium but is injected into the bacterium through a virus. This bacteriophage ( the virus that affects bacterium), inserts the toxin gene into the bacterium. The toxin gene is present in the viral DNA and integrates with the bacterial genome during the lysogenic phase (Czarkowski, Kondej, & Staszewska 209-212).
The most common symptoms are sore throat and white rashes on the surface of the tongue. Sometimes it is confused with pharyngitis, where the causative pathogen is the same or might be different. In Scarlet fever, the nature of pharyngitis is exudative and is always caused by Group A Streptococci. On the other hand, pharyngitis is not associated with exudations and may be caused by other strains of bacteria including Staphylococci, Acinetobacter and others. The disease affects children between the ages of 5 years to 15 years when their immunity is low. However, by the age of 10 years, children who are once affected by Sc…