15. Whilst the discovery of penicillin, among other treatments, significantly reduced instances of scarlet fever during the 20th century, the 21st has seen worrying increases in Europe and Asia of the potentially fatal bacterial infection
Scarlet fever is a disease caused by a bacterial infection commonly spread by sneezing and coughing, resulting in rashes, headaches, and swollen lymph nodes. Typically affecting children between the ages of five and fifteen, the fever can result in kidney disease, heart problems, and was recorded as the leading cause of death in children during the early 20th century. Believed to have been first recorded by Hippocrates in approximately 400 BCE, the condition endured through the Middle Ages, appearing in several medical textbooks. With the scientific advances of the late-19th and early-20th centuries, the root causes of scarlet fever were successfully identified and treatments devised.
In 1924, an anti-toxin was developed to combat the disease, whilst the application of penicillin to fight the fever has significantly reduced the mortality rate of the previously deadly illness. However, to date, no vaccine has been successfully synthesized, rather only more effective modes of treatment and prevention. Consequently, recent years have seen a resurgence in cases of scarlet fever. Rising from levels of just 8 per 100,000 children in 2013, England has seen that figure rise to 33 per 100,000 by 2016. Similar increases have been observed in China, with more than 100,00 new cases over five years, as well in Vietnam, South Korea, and Hong Kong.