[Antibiotic prophylaxis of immediate and late complications of scarlet fever].

Patients with scarlet fever were followed by clinical and laboratory investigation (bacteriologic and immunologic reactions, etc.), in relation with the early application, and the duration of penicillin therapy. The patients were also followed for a period of 30 days after discharge from the hospital. The results show a decrease in the number of early and late complications, as well as a reduction in the number of carriers of beta-haemolytic streptococcus in those patients in whom penicillin treatment was applied early, and when it was prolonged in the recovery period. The clinical and statistical data stress the pathologic morphology of scarlet fever, and the restructuration of complications when penicillin treatment is applied.