SCARLET FEVER. Synonyms.—Scarlatina; Scarlet Rash. Definition ...

diarrhea was dysenteric in character, there being a great deal of
tenesmus and pain. With this type the catarrhal symptoms were slight,
and might be overlooked. Children were more affected with this form
than adults.
Nervous.—This type is especially severe in persons of nervous and
excitable temperaments. The headache is intense, the patient is r.estless
and irritable, the eyes are bright, the pupils contracted, and delirium is
often present. The fever is acute, the temperature being 104° or 105°. In
the severer forms a meningitis develops, with the usual attendant
symptoms. In all these forms the fever is remittent in character.
Sequelæ.—There are few, if any, diseases that leave so large a train of
chronic lesions in their path, the most prominent being chronic
bronchitis. Asthma, laryngitis, and phthisis have more rarely followed.
An enfeebled action of the heart persists for a long time, and angina
pectoris occasionally follows.
Chronic catarrhal diarrhea is one of the results, while nephritis and
cystitis occur sufficiently often to render the victim most miserable.
The most. painful sequelae, however, are of the nervous
system,—migraine of a severe and intractable character; neuralgia of
various parts ; insomnia, that renders the patient's life a burden, and
makes him grow thin and cross and irritable; melancholy, that dread
affection that robs life of its pleasures, yet makes its owner dread to lay
it down; and, lastly, mania, which is worse than death,—these are a few
of the results which follow influenza.
Diagnosis.—The diagnosis is easily made. The sudden invasion, the
catarrhal symptoms, the hard, dry cough, intense pain in head and
back, and general aching of the body, the marked prostration, are
characteristic, and can hardly be mistaken.
Prognosis.—The prognosis is usually favorable, though severe
complications, like pneumonia, pericarditis, or nephritis, would make the
prognosis problematical, as it would in delicate children and among the
very aged.
Treatment.—Our school has been successful to a remarkable degree
owing to the fact that the treatment has not been routine, but each
phase of the disease has been met with remedies directed to control
The Eclectic Practice of Medicine - PART I - Infectious Diseases - Page 166