School warns parents of possible scarlet fever case in Waterloo, Ont.

There are new concerns surrounding a highly contagious infection after a suspected case of scarlet fever was reported at a school in Waterloo, Ont.

There are new concerns surrounding a highly contagious infection after a suspected case of scarlet fever was reported at a school in Waterloo, Ont.

Earlier this week, Sandowne Public School sent parents an email informing them one of their students was believed to have the illness. The email also said a few other students were also showing symptoms.

“We don’t see scarlet fever as often as we used to, and it’s tough to say exactly how often it occurs because there isn’t a systematic way to know how many people have it in a given year, unlike some of the infections that we track,” explained Dr. Matthew Tenenbaum, the associate medical officer of health for Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health.

CTV News spoke with several parents who said they received the warning.

“I’m not too worried about it. My daughter is actually feeling a bit sick today, so I was maybe a little faster to keep her home because of it,” parent Meghan Prang said.

“Strep throat and scarlet fever – that’s such a hard one because you never know you’re going to get it,” said parent Tarah Bonne. “You don’t even know someone has it until it’s too late. Just keep an eye on them.”

Scarlet fever is caused by Group A streptococcus, a type of bacteria also known to cause strep throat.