Scarlet Fever...

So I just did a little reading and am pretty sure Natalie has scarlet fever. Although to me this sounds really scary, it's basically just strep throat with the characteristic red rash.

This is what ivillage says about strep throat:

Scarlet fever is most often caused by strep throat. The bacteria releases a toxin which is irritative to the skin. This causes the skin to become quite red with little bumps. It is sometimes described as having a "sandpaper" appearance. Not all children who get strep throat get this rash. The reason for this is not completely understood except it may be that some strains of strep are more likely to cause it. Unfortunately, there are currently no medications that work directly against the toxin, so all that can be done is to kill the bacteria with antibiotics. Fortunately, this is all that is needed for scarlet fever because it responds well to antibiotics. Essentially, scarlet fever is just a special term for a strep throat which has a particular rash associated with it. The rash is simply a symptom of the strep throat just like the fever is.

I just thought this was interesting - I always had thought scarlet fever was some really awful thing and although it's not a good thing to have, it's not as scary as I had thought! If the doctor had said scarlet fever I would have freaked out. Which is probably why he didn't!!