Maryn McKennaDec 19, 2022
New from me at WIRED:
The UK is enduring an historic outbreak of scarlet fever, caused by group A strep infection. Cases *might* be rising in the US too; it's hard to know, because we haven't built the data systems that could tell us.
But if a wave of serious group A strep is coming, what might protect the US is greater awareness of the illness —caused, sadly, by the death of a NY teen 10 years ago.
https://www.wired.com/story/the-uk-is-enduring-an-onslaught-of-scarlet-fever-is-the-us-next/
The UK Is Enduring an Onslaught of Scarlet Fever. Is the US Next?

The US is more alert to the risks of strep infections, but the UK has better data. It’s not clear which makes more difference in controlling disease.

WIRED
Show threadMaggie Koerth
@marynmck wait ... scarlet fever is strep A? I never knew. It's in my mind as "the thing that made Mary Ingalls blind" and maybe the Velveteen Rabbit?
Dec 19, 2022 at 10:06pmWeb
Show threadMaryn McKennaDec 20, 2022
@maggiek those are in the story! The boy in the Velveteen Rabbit (recovers, but toys are burned for disinfection) and Beth in Little Women (recovers, but dies later of probably rheumatic fever heart damage).
Laura Ingalls Wilder did say that Mary had scarlet fever, but 21st-c diagnosticians think it was more likely meningoencephalitis — but she picked "scarlet fever" as an explanation because it would have been familiar and scary.