Scarlet fever, oh boy oh boy!

blevinandwomba

So I was exposed to someone today with scarlet fever. My understanding is that it's not very dangerous, but it is very contagious. What would you take if you thought you'd been exposed?

LaurieLovesLearning

@torey @sarah121 Thoughts on this?

SherryA

I would start with elderberry. Be sure to get lots of rest and drink lots of water.

Torey

As with any infection, cleanliness is very important; lots of hand washing to make sure you don't infect anyone around you. Scarlet fever is caused by the Streptococcus A bacteria. The incubation period can be as little as one day or as much as 7 days. One of the first things I would use would be a throat spray made from Oregon Grape Root or Echinaceae or a combination. Propolis might also be useful in the combo. Keep eating well to keep up your immune system and add some adaptogens to your diet.

If you do develop scarlet fever, there are herbs that you can use to help alleviate the symptoms, depending on what they are and how severe. There are some homeopathic remedies that have been used quite successfully to treat scarlet fever. Belladonna and Stramonium are two but homeopathy is dependent on individual symptoms.

blevinandwomba

Thanks for the input. So far I've had echinacea tea and yarrow/ginger tea. I don't think I have what I need to make a throat spray, but I took some of my oregon grape root bitters. And I'm going to bed early.

Annie Kate

@torey You know so much! Did you study these things formally? What is the best way for a newbie to herbalism to learn quickly?

frogvalley

@blevinandwomba If you are fine one minute and get a fever really quickly ( like going from 60 to 0 in 30 minutes) and your orifices are pretty red, eyes glossy and sort of catatonic, Belladonna may be the best remedy.

If it's a sudden onset and you think "I'm going to die", am fearful, intense anxiety, inflammation, then Aconite might be what you want to try.

The are my go to homeopathic remedies for sudden illness. There are a few others, but google "homeopathy or homeopathic remedy" and symptoms. Example: homeopathic remedy for sudden headache. Read through the text and see if you spot something that clicks.

The National Center for Homeopathy is a great resource.

Torey

@Annie Kate Have you taken the Herbal courses through TGN Academy? Great place to start. Two free resources are the ones we have started study groups for, through the following posts. @judsoncarroll4 is doing a great job of keeping notes for us on each lesson. https://community.thegrownetwork.com/discussion/844249/free-huge-and-comprehensive-herbal-medicine-course/p1 I have been doing notes for 7Song's course. https://community.thegrownetwork.com/discussion/844864/7songs-herbal-first-aid-course-study-group#latest

I will PM you with other courses you might be interested in, so as not to detract from the original post here.

Annie Kate

Thank you so much @torey for this and the PM. I can certainly get going with all of this! :)

And I had completely forgotten about the TGN courses. Duh! That's an obvious place to start.

LaurieLovesLearning

@torey Would you be willing to post a list of courses in a separate discussion thread? I think this would be beneficial for so many here.

Torey

I will get right on that @LaurieLovesLearning

bcabrobin

Scarlet fever is a disease resulting from a group A streptococcus (group A strep) infection, also known as Streptococcus pyogenes. The signs and symptoms include a sore throat, fever, headaches, swollen lymph nodes, and a characteristic rash. The rash is red and feels like sandpaper and the tongue may be red and bumpy.Other symptoms of scarlet fever

Other common symptoms of scarlet fever include: https://www.healthline.com/health/scarlet-fever

• red creases in the armpits, elbows, and knees (Pastia’s lines)
• flushed face
• strawberry tongue, or a white tongue with red dots on the surface
• red, sore throat with white or yellow patches
• fever above 101°F (38.3°C)
• chills
• headaches
• swollen tonsils
• nausea and vomiting
• abdominal pain
• swollen glands along the neck
• pale skin around the lips

What are the complications from scarlet fever? https://dermnetnz.org/topics/scarlet-fever/

Nowadays, scarlet fever infection usually follows a benign course when diagnosed and treated appropriately. However, if left untreated or treatment is unsuccessful, the following complications caused by the streptococcal infection may arise.

• Rheumatic fever
• Otitis media
• Pneumonia
• Septicaemia
• Glomerulonephritis
• Osteomyelitis
• Death

Rheumatic fever, which affects the heart, and glomerulonephritis, which affects the kidneys, may permanently damage the body and require long-term treatment.

How to prevent scarlet fever

To prevent spread of streptococcus bacteria that cause scarlet fever, an infected individual should ideally be isolated from other family members, especially from infants and younger siblings. To help prevent spread, keep drinking glasses and eating utensils used by the infected individual separate from those of other family members. These items need to be washed thoroughly in very hot soapy water, preferably with antibacterial soap or detergent.

Children should be kept away from school until they have received at least 24 hours of antibiotic therapy and there are clear signs of improvement.

Lesson: Take care of yourself!

frogvalley

I had scarlet fever as a kid and it was considered deadly back then. They burned all my clothes, blankets, stuffed animals and other things I touched. It was my first out of body experience - I was flying around the room looking down at myself. As a kid, it was neat. Glad I didn't know how bad it could get and glad there are so many ways to strengthen one's self.

OhiohillsLouise

Nothing to play around with, both my parents became deaf (as children) because of Scarlet Fever.

COWLOVINGIRL

https://community.thegrownetwork.com/discussion/comment/872915#Comment_872915

torey which herbal course should I do first, out the ones in the accademy?

blevinandwomba

Well, its been a week now, so I think I'm good! I haven't heard of any of my coworkers coming down with it either. I think the cleaning policies we've had due to Covid-19 may have helped.

Thanks everyone for sharing your knowledge.

Torey

@COWLOVINGIRL I started a new post with Herbal Education Opportunities at https://community.thegrownetwork.com/discussion/844916/herbal-educational-opportunities#latest

As to TGN's courses, I would start with Home Medicine 101. It will give you some excellent basics. Next I would do the Herbal Energetics course which will give you tools for choosing the right herb for the individual. Often, there are several (or many) herbs listed for a particular condition or ailment so how do you choose. This course helps with that. The other two courses are Wildcrafting & Foraging and Making Herbal Medicines. You can choose which one of those you would like to do next. Both are of equal value and they kind of go hand in hand. I know you already have a garden but the gardening courses are very useful for assisting with growing your own medicines.

Good luck and let us know how you are doing.

COWLOVINGIRL

https://community.thegrownetwork.com/discussion/comment/873334#Comment_873334

torey Thank you so much! I have been wondering which one to do next for a while now, I wanted to move forward, but didn't know where to move! Thank you so much!