Is Scarlet fever Contagious?

Transmission of Scarlet fever from Person to Person

Scarlet fever is considered to be contagious between people. Generally the infectious agent may be transmitted by saliva, air, cough, fecal-oral route, surfaces, blood, needles, blood transfusions, sexual contact, mother to fetus, etc.
Scarlet fever, although infectious, is not a genetic disease. It is not caused by a defective or abnormal gene.
The contagious disease, Scarlet fever, can be transmitted:

• from person to person by saliva, air, coughing, contact, surfaces, fecal-oral route, etc.

Transmission of Scarlet fever

Transmission of Scarlet fever to a person can be by way of:

• contaminated air.

Contagion summary:

The illness is spread by the same means as strep throat. (Source: excerpt from Group A Streptococcal Infections, NIAID Fact Sheet: NIAID)

About contagion and contagiousness:

Contagion and contagiousness refers to how easily the spread of Scarlet fever is possible from one person to another. Other words for contagion include "infection", "infectiousness", "transmission" or "transmissability". Contagiousness has nothing to do with genetics or inheriting diseases from parents. For an overview of contagion, see Introduction to Contagion.

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