When and how is scarlet fever contagious?
Scarlet fever is only slightly contagious for the first one or two days of the attack. It is most contagious at the height of the disease and during desquamation. It may be carried by healthy persons and by the clothing or bedding from the sick room.
How does whooping-cough begin?
For a week or ten days it cannot be distinguished from an ordinary cold on the chest. Then the attacks of coughing gradually become more severe and vomiting may follow. After a severe coughing fit the breath is caught with a peculiar noise known as the "whoop."
How does chicken-pox begin?
It usually comes out gradually, as widely scattered pimples over the scalp, face, and body, many of which soon become small vesicles, resembling tiny blisters. There is itching and local discomfort but little fever, and the child rarely seems to be very ill.
How does diphtheria begin?
Sometimes suddenly, but usually gradually, with sore throat and swelling of the glands of the neck, with white patches upon the tonsils, or a free discharge which may be bloody, from the nostrils.
How does mumps begin?
As a swelling upon the jaw, beneath the ear. As it increases it extends forward upon the cheek and backward behind the ear. It affects one or both sides.