TRENTO. The worst time, thanks to the change of season, the warmer weather and the consequent possibility of spending more time outdoors, should now be behind us. But the winter – and anyone with small children, in kindergarten, nursery and elementary school knows it well – was difficult. We are talking about the cases of scarlet fever and streptococcal pharyngotonsillitis. In the first case the data is growing, but without reaching the real boom recorded in other regions, starting from the Veneto.
Explains the doctor Maria Grazia Zuccali, director of the Prevention Department: «As regards scarlet fever the situation in Trentino has been and is under control, there have been no numbers noted in Veneto. In the first four months of this year, 66 cases were reported (far from the 1,166 in the Veneto region, with a record 316 in the province of Vicenza alone, ed). An increasing figure, tripled compared to last year’s twenty, but this growth is linked more than anything else to the pandemic phase, considering that in recent years there was airway protection. The ministerial circular arrived two weeks ago, but no emergency cases have been registered with us. Only two adults were affected, aged 32 and 48. Furthermore, the recent closure of schools for Easter has interrupted diffusion and transmission ».
Confirming a particularly intense winter is the pediatrician Marta Betta: «Without a doubt, we have seen and treated many children. There has been a strong resurgence of bacterial, not viral, disease. We had been arriving for two years in which we could only see Covid, let’s say we weren’t used to it anymore, for years we didn’t see anything infectious. Fortunately, there have been few invasive cases. We are now in the declining phase, but parents still need to be reassured: we pediatricians know how to deal with these steptococcus infections and, indeed, we have been on the spot by creating specific guidelines and purchasing swabs in time (not nasal ones like those for Covid and who give an answer in five minutes), since at national level they are no longer to be found. If the diagnosis is quite simple, so is the treatment: antibiotics and within two days the children are already better. It is important to underline that the therapy must be done for 10 days and not interrupted earlier because the child has recovered. The return “in society” can take place earlier, after 4 doses, as it is no longer contagious for friends and companions ».
Dr. Betta points out that only a small number of children who have had steptococcus have had scarlet fever and explains that the real problem was the antibiotic. «A global issue, it seems linked to production, but the drug of first choice, Amoxicillin, was in short supply. And it was necessary, because treatments with sprays or lozenges for the throat are not very effective”. “Now – concludes Betta – we hope to be in the final queue of these infections, given that temperatures rise and we are outdoors more.
Advice if symptoms emerge? Paracetamol to ease the pain and if the fever persists, contact the pediatrician, without fear of waiting a couple of days before starting antibiotic treatments ».