Sore Throat and a Sandpaper Rash? Could My Child Have Scarlet Fever or Strep A? Your child comes home complaining that their throat hurts. By evening, they have a temperature. Their neck glands may feel swollen. Then you notice something else. A fine rash has appeared across their chest or tummy. It does not necessarily look dramatic—but when you run your hand gently over it, the skin feels unusually rough. Almost like sandpaper . For many parents, particularly after recent publicity around Strep A, the immediate question is: “Could this be scarlet fever?” Scarlet fever is an infection caused by Group A Streptococcus , often shortened to Group A Strep or Strep A . It mainly affects children and usually responds well to appropriate antibiotic treatment. The key is recognising the pattern and arranging a medical assessment, rather than trying to diagnose the rash from an internet photograph alone. What is scarlet fever? Scarlet fever is caused by Group A Streptococcus bacteria. The...
Why Does My Child Keep Getting Sinus Infections? Is It Really Sinusitis? “My child has another sinus infection.” It is something parents understandably say when a child seems to move from one episode of: blocked nose → runny nose → green mucus → cough straight into the next. Perhaps they improve for a few days and then start again. Perhaps they have already received antibiotics several times. Eventually, the obvious question is: “Why does my child keep getting sinusitis?” But there is another question worth asking first: “Are all these episodes actually sinus infections?” Children have frequent viral respiratory infections, particularly when attending nursery or school. Those infections can produce congestion, thick mucus and cough—the same symptoms parents often associate with “sinusitis”. True recurrent or persistent sinusitis does occur in children. But green mucus alone does not diagnose a bacterial sinus infection , and most short-lived episodes do not automatic...