School warns parents of possible scarlet fever case in Waterloo, Ont.

A parent holds a thermometer in this undated stock image. (cottonbro studio/Pexels.com)

There are new concerns surrounding a highly contagious infection after a suspected case of scarlet fever was reported at a school in Waterloo, Ont.

Earlier this week, Sandowne Public School sent parents an email informing them one of their students was believed to have the illness. The email also said a few other students were also showing symptoms.

“We don’t see scarlet fever as often as we used to, and it’s tough to say exactly how often it occurs because there isn’t a systematic way to know how many people have it in a given year, unlike some of the infections that we track,” explained Dr. Matthew Tenenbaum, the associate medical officer of health for Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health.

CTV News spoke with several parents who said they received the warning.

“I’m not too worried about it. My daughter is actually feeling a bit sick today, so I was maybe a little faster to keep her home because of it,” parent Meghan Prang said.

“Strep throat and scarlet fever – that’s such a hard one because you never know you’re going to get it,” said parent Tarah Bonne. “You don’t even know someone has it until it’s too late. Just keep an eye on them.”

What is scarlet fever?

Scarlet fever is caused by Group A streptococcus, a type of bacteria also known to cause strep throat.

According to Health Canada, scarlet fever often appears as a rash accompanied by a high fever and a strawberry-like appearance on the tongue.

“What typically is more visible and dramatic with scarlet fever, is you’ll get a skin rash that can be red. When you press on it, it can blanch a little bit and turn white and very patchy, almost like sandpaper, and it spreads across the body,” Tenenbaum said.

Scarlet fever is most common among children between the ages of 5 and 18.

It is often passed from person-to-person, through contact with droplets, after an infected person coughs or sneezes.

Symptoms usually start one to four days after exposure to the bacteria but the rash can last for an entire week, and the skin may even start to peel.

Rare complications of scarlet fever can include: rheumatic heart disease and kidney damage, also known as post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis, and rheumatic fever which can affect the heart, joints, brain and skin.

The illness is usually treated with prescription antibiotics.

“You wouldn’t expect it to improve on its own. You typically need antibiotics to help,” Tenenbaum explained. “If you have a kid who’s feeling unwell, knowing there’s a bunch of things that can cause that, it’s not unreasonable to keep an eye on them for 24 to 48 hours.”