It begins as an area of mild redness on the skin, but over the next 2-3 days undergoes a marked change. The inflammation becomes more pronounced, the skin becomes dusky and then purplish, and then bloody blisters develop in the skin. Unless appropriate medical treatment is undertaken the process may quickly march over large areas of the body. The patient is very ill and death rates are high even with appropriate medical treatment. Diagnosis is made clinically and the bacteria can be identified by the microbiology department from swabs of the affected area.
Treatment includes appropriate surgery and removal of all dead tissue and antibiotic therapy.
In most cases the initial focus of infection is the skin and soft tissues. Treatment involves intensive care, surgical care and antibiotic therapy. Acute rheumatic fever is a disease characterised by inflammation of the heart, joints, tissue underlying the skin, and central nervous system. It may damage the heart permanently. It is likely to be a result of either toxic effects of Streptococcal products, or antibodies produced by us to fight the bacteria which actually start to attack the parts of our own body-called an autoimmune phenomena.