Rheumatic fever (RF) and scarlet fever are both caused by group A Streptococcus bacteria, but they present with different symptoms and complications, some of them potentially serious. Scarlet fever is ...

Scarlet fever, or scarlatina, is a bacterial infection that causes a distinctive bright red sandpaper-like rash. Streptococcus pyogenes (group A strep)—the same bacteria responsible for strep ...