PARENTING COLUMN: A brush with Scarlet fever

As a typical Irish Mammy, my go-to remedies for most childhood ailments are a dab of sudocrem or a dose of calpol. Hard to beat! The very odd time though, I need to accept that my ‘you’ll be grand’ mantra is no match for a doctor’s medical degree.

Thankfully it doesn’t happen too often, but Lucy ended up on antibiotics last week. I got a call from the school on Tuesday to collect her as she was feeling unwell.

It was Sports Day and she had been looking forward to the three-legged race and the wheelbarrow race with her friends, so it was quite telling that she must be feeling proper rubbish if she asked the teacher to call home. She slinked around the house on Tuesday with a sore throat and a high temperature.

We did a Covid test and it was negative so I figured it must be a wee dose that we’d just have to ride out. There are plenty of bugs doing the rounds, after all. A bit of calpol. She’ll be grand.

That night, she didn’t sleep well, so Wednesday turned out to be a day spent on Granny’s couch. Another day off school, but hopefully the rest would sort her out. She’ll be grand. Nope.

Thursday was her school tour and when she told me that morning that she didn’t feel up to going, I knew that this had dragged on long enough. I called the doctor and we were lucky to get an appointment that morning. He took one look at the faint, prickly rash now forming on her neck (I hadn’t even noticed it was there) and said, “Scarlet fever.”

Jeepers. My mind went into overdrive; I didn’t know anything about scarlet fever. I couldn’t wait to pull out my phone and google like hell. The doctor reassured us that once the antibiotics kicked in, she’d feel much better.

I felt guilty that I had let it drag on as I did, but it’s so hard to know with these things. Like most people, I don’t want to be running constantly to the doctor, clogging up an already overwhelmed service. But at the same time, making sure your child receives the medical attention they need has to take precedence over everything else.

Out of nowhere, the rash got brighter and crept down her arms and across her belly. I was so glad we had a diagnosis and an antibiotic at that stage.

Scarlet fever is highly contagious, so I rang the school to tell them straight away. They, in turn, informed the parents of Lucy’s classmates. I also sent texts to the parents of her friends to let them know to keep an eye out for symptoms, starting with a sore throat and generally being off form; the tell-tale ‘sandpaper rash’ was the last symptom to emerge.

I’ve heard that scarlet fever is rife all over Ireland at the moment, but we don’t know anyone else who’s had it lately. Goodness knows where she picked it up and unfortunately, goodness knows who she might have passed it on to. According to good old google, scarlet fever has a short incubation period of two to five days. Her younger brothers appear to be unscathed thus far. But I’ve probably jinxed it now that I’ve written it…They’ll be grand, right?!

Louise Flanagan is an admin of Letterkenny Babies Facebook page and the author of the children’s book series, Dragonterra and Dream Beasts. www.dragonterra.ie

Receive quality journalism wherever you are, on any device. Keep up to date from the comfort of your own home with a digital subscription.
Any time | Any place | Anywhere