Symptoms of Scarlet Fever

While you don’t hear of scarlet fever much anymore, the recent outbreak of a new strain of the disease in Hong Kong and mainland China has many parents doing their research on the contagious disease that affects mostly children.

Scarlet fever is carried in the nasal fluids and in the mouth and can easily spread by coughing or sneezing. It shows up as a rash of tiny red bumps, usually starting on the stomach or chest area. The rash may spread over the body and resemble sunburn, but will feel sandpaper rough.

The rash from scarlet fever will last from two to seven days and appear redder in skin creases of the groin area, elbows and arm pits. The skin on fingertips and toes will peel after the rash is gone.

Other symptoms that accompany the rash are pale areas around the lips while the face is flushed. Fevers of 101 degrees F or higher and a red, sore throat with possible patches of yellow or white. The tongue may also take on the look of a strawberry, with the normal bumps looking bigger than normal. The tongue often will have a whitish coating.

Body aches, headache and nausea are less common symptoms of scarlet fever.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, if a child is suspected of having scarlet fever, take them for medical attention immediately and keep the child away from gatherings of people that they could spread the disease to. The current outbreak in Hong Kong and China shows a resistance to the antibiotics that are usually used to treat the disease. The sore throat will make the child uncomfortable, so ask the doctor what you can give the child to sooth the pain.

Other things that you can do to comfort a child who has scarlet fever is feed them warm soups or cold foods like popsicles to ease the sore throat. Remember that plenty of liquids are needed to keep the child from becoming dehydrated and make sure that the little patient gets plenty of rest. 

Help your Container Plants Beat the Heat

Now that summer is here, the kids are out of school and you are probably busy during the day with fun activities with the kids. A lot of moms escape the heat by taking the family to the beach or pool during the day, and there are always the kids’ activities and errands to run. The garden, however, can’t escape the intense sunlight and drying heat of summer. When mom gets home, she no doubt finds that her container plants have wilted during the long, bright day even if she has watered them in the morning.

Container plants always dry out a lot quicker than garden plants. Plants can spring back quickly from a short term shortage of water, but sometimes they become so stressed that they can die from just a single hot afternoon without a drink. Make sure that you are welcomed back home from your day trip by lush container plants with a quick little trick.

Before you leave for the day, fill resealable freezer or sandwich bags half full with water. If you live in a windy area, put a couple of small rocks or gravel into the bag to give it enough weight to stay in the container when it is empty. Using a pin or needle, prick a few small holes into the bottom of the bag and place it in the container, as close to the center as possible without crushing the plants. In a large container with a lot of room, use the gallon size bags. If that is too big, use several of the sandwich size.

The water will slowly dribble in to the planting medium during the day and keep it from drying out as you tend to your business. When you come home after your day of trying to beat the heat, you won’t have to rush to try to revive the wilting container plants that greeted you when you pulled into the driveway.

Use the time to relax with an ice cold refreshing drink before you finish unloading the car. Hopefully you can enjoy the rest of your day at a slower pace.