Scarlet Fever


(3) Image from Science Alert
Overview 
Scarlet fever is described as A bacterial illness that can develop in a person with strep throat. Scarlet fever shows bright red rashes all over the body while including high fevers and a sore throat. This illness is most common in children from ages five to fifteen (1). In the late 1800s and early 1900s, England and Wales families and children were under a war of fighting this illness. It wasn’t until the 1920s that a scientist discovered what might be happening to these young children (4). 

Mary Shelley, The author of Frankenstein was born in April of 1797. The novel itself was written in 1818. Scarlet Fever had a high mortality rate at this time period being around 12% to 15% (6). It is also said that around this time, which antibiotics were not a thing, only around 20% of people who were infected were able to survive (7).

(2) Image from The Lancet

Including Frankenstein

When Frankenstein by Mary Shelley was written in the early 1900s, Scarlet fever was in its wake with an extremely high mortality rate amongst young children in England. During this time period, the mortality rates of children due to Scarlet Fever were at the highest, the highest rate being shown on this chart, in 1901. 

We see through parts Frankenstein how Scarlet Fever has affected the characters in the novel. Caroline, Victor Frankensteins mother contracts Scarlet Fever while nursing Elizabeth, her adopted daughter back to health after she had fallen ill from the same disease. Caroline unfortunately passes from the illness shortly after (5). 

Work Cited

  1. Mayo Clinic Staff. Scarlet Fever. Mayo Clinic. 30 April 2025. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/scarlet-fever/symptoms-causes/syc-20377406 
  2. Lamagni, Theresa. Guy, Rebecca. Chand, Meera. Henderson, Katherine. Chalker, Victoria. Lewis, James. Resurgence of scarlet fever in England, 2014-16: A population-based surveillance study. The Lancet. February 2018. Volume 18, issue. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099%2817%2930693-X/fulltext
  3. Starr, Michelle. The Once-Deadly Scarlet Fever is Making A Weird Come back Around the World. Science Alert. 29 November 2017. https://www.sciencealert.com/scarlet-fever-has-surged-in-the-uk-hitting-a-50-year-high 
  4. Prinzi, Andrea. Scarlet Fever: A Deadly History and How It Prevails. American Society for Microbiology. 24 Jan. 2023. https://asm.org/articles/2023/january/scarlet-fever-a-deadly-history-and-how-it-prevails
  5. Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. Dover. 1818.
  6. Szreter, Simon. Mooney, Graham. Scarlet Fever and nineteenth-century mortality trends. Wiley. 4 November 2020.https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ehr.13042
  7. Mclaughlin, Elliot. Mattiedna Johnson’s Historic work on Antibiotics. WebMD. 23 March 2023 https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/features/did-mattiedna-johnson-help-cure-scarlet-fever

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