From the Australian Broadcasting Company:
Scarlet fever is making a comeback after being infected with a toxic virus, researchers say
Scarlet fever epidemics were deadly to children across the globe in the 1800s, but in recent decades concerns about the disease have largely faded from the minds of medical experts, in part due to the power of antibiotics.
Recently though, the bacteria responsible for scarlet fever has been mutating and making a resurgence.
New research by scientists at the University of Queensland (UQ), in collaboration with scientists around the world, has suggested the Streptococcus pyogenes bacteria is growing stronger after being infected by viruses.
Happens in nature from time to time and easy enough to conjure up in a lab somewhere. A bit more:
Between 2014 and 2018, the UK National Health Service reported a 68 per cent increase in the number of lab reports of pyogenic streptococci.
And it is a nice one:
Historically, septic complications such as brain abscess, meningitis, lung abscess, pneumonia, osteomyelitis (bone infection), middle ear and soft tissue infections could follow scarlet fever and cause early death.
Shudder... 68% increase is well above the statistical norm. Something is happening out there and the breakthrough is not going to be nice.
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