Scarlet fever is a notifiable disease in Hong Kong for over 40 years. There was relatively low activity of scarlet fever until an outbreak in mid-2011 which resulted in two deaths and more than 1,500 cases. Scarlet fever incidence remained elevated since then with >10-fold increase comparing to that before the upsurge. Reemergence of scarlet fever was also reported in China in 2011 and the United Kingdom in 2014. We analyzed the patterns in scarlet fever incidence in Hong Kong using the notifiable disease surveillance data from 2005-2015.
Objective:
This study examined the epidemiology of scarlet fever in Hong Kong based on notifiable disease surveillance data, in a period where a 10-fold upsurge in scarlet fever incidence occurred. High risk groups and important factors associated with scarlet fever transmission were identified.