I have scarlet fever...!

Strep and Staph are found everywhere. They are on our body and part of our ecosystem. They are part of the normal ecology of our bodies. Scarlet fever and sore throats are a symptom that something is out of whack. Our immune systems are stressed and cannot deal with the normal bacteria that is around us. Sometimes more virulent strains of the bacteria springs up around us. Our normal ecological body cannot deal with it. We get sick.

There are new strains of bacteria emerging because of overuse of antibiotics and the mass use of pharmaceuticals. When humans and animals are given steroids, hormones, anti-depressants, antibiotics (all synthetic), they go through our body and we piss them into our earth, our rivers, and our air. What one person ingests, we are all forced to use. Our ecosystem is under attack from these drugs.

That is why these virulent strains of strep and staph are emerging.

What can you do? Stop stressing your immune system. Take care of yourself. Don't consume pharmaceuticals! Know your body and how your body fits into your ecosystem. Change your life style to be part of the earth and not apart from it. All ecosystems will attack anything that is attacking it. Be strong.

Rest and sleep more than usual. Don't do anything to stress yourself. Drink water. Follow your doctor's advise, including antibiotics. I hope you feel better soon.

Take care of yourself, Sarah. Rest, eat what you want to (healthy-like, you know), drink plenty of fluids and FINISH THE ENTIRE BOTTLE OF ANTIBIOTICS EVEN IF YOU FEEL BETTER. (See explanation below).

Some clarification: Scarlet fever has been with humans for thousands, and probably millions of years. It was a feared childhood disease before the advent of antibiotics. Homes were quarantined for having a case. The fear was for damage to the heart in particular. Strep can set up camp on the heart valves, causing damage, possibly causing eventual heart failure even. Sarah is right that untreated strep can cause scarlet fever in up to 30% of cases, and can be a serious health problem. The vast majority of cases can be effectively treated with common, generic antibiotics.

Scarlet fever is not necessarily caused by "virulent strains of strep and staph" emerging, Jane. I DO agree with your general premise of overuse of antibiotics and resistance, but I don't think that this case qualifies. This is a case where most of the relatively inexpensive "old" antibiotics will work to prevent a serious problem. Heart valve replacement surgery in future is no picnic. Buy organic animal products that do not use routine antibiotics on herds (or become a vegan, which isn't a choice for everyone). Although I disagree with Jane on a "superbug" causing scarlet fever, I DO agree that feeding "routine" antibiotics to a herd of cows to prevent mastitis (udder infection) is insane. As an example: Stop giving the cows rBGH that stretches their udders to the point of allowing infections in damaged tissues. If a single cow gets mastitis, treat it and segregate the milk for the duration of treatment. It's not rocket science, but it requires actually paying attention to what's going on with your herd. Antibiotics are passed through the food chain and pissed out all over the earth.

The pharmaceutical companies, consumers, and healthcare professionals are all to blame for the emergence of resistant "superbugs". Every kid with an ear infection doesn't need antibiotics. You don't need antibiotics for your cold or flu, or for that matter MOST upper respiratory illnesses. When you only take the antibiotics that are appropriately prescribed until you feel better, you knock out only the most susceptible bacteria, allowing the ones that survive to adapt and "learn" resistance. Even if you don't get sick from it again for now because you take care of your immune system, which helps keep these bacteria in balance in your normal flora, you can pass the bug to someone else whose immune system is not up to snuff because of stress, other illness, etc. Take the entire bottle of pills, even if you feel better, so you aren' contributing to the emergence of even more antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Pharmaceutical businesses are built on a capitalist system that requires them to market to you, making you think you need a pill for every ailment, and you don't. Providers for years saw no problem with prescribing antibiotics to consumers who had been duped into thinking they needed antibiotics for every runny nose. I still run into people who insist that their cold goes away faster if they take antibiotics. When the virus (which isn't affected by antibiotics--only bacteria are) starts resolving, the consumer stops the antibiotic course, thus "dosing" the naturally occurring staph and strep flora in their bodies and "teaching" them how to live through the antibiotic onslought.

However, there ARE drugs that are useful. Living in the age before antibiotics would be quite an education for most of us. Dying of strep throat doesn't sound like a picnic to me.

So, find yourself a healthcare provider who is savvy to APPROPRIATE use of antibiotics when you're sick. A good provider will tell you when you probably DON'T need to treat an illness. They should send you home, educating you about warning signs about what you should look for in your illness/recovery to come back in if it IS something serious, like scarlet fever. Seek out providers who don't prescribe the latest-greatest super antibiotic unless it's absoultely necessary. A good provider still knows the value of good old fashioned penicillin and the like in appropriate cases.

Rheumatic fever is very dangerous-it's what's permanently weakened the hearts of many folks over 60. And it's meant an earlier death for those of our elders who might have survived another health problem if not for their damaged tickers.

Does anyone know a source of antibiotics that is not from pharmaceutical companies? Know any plant/fungus sources?

Hey folks,

I'm feeling a lot better and no longer covered in spots. Thanks for yer posts,

Sarah