Who got fever? I got fever. Scarlet Fever

This Saturday I woke up with a bad sore throat. It happens in China. I didn't think much of it, but then was chilled, and when I took my temp it was over 102F. Sarah suggested helpfully that I had the flu.

No biggie, but thought it was weird because I just had a flu shot (I always think those things are useless).

That night and the next day, my temperature hovered around 102-103 F and I got to enjoy a cold bath and other fun home remedies.

Then on Sun, the fever broke. But instead, I started feeling tingles in one foot -- how it feels when your foot falls asleep. My feet are pretty beat up, cracked, and always itching from being on the jiujitsu mats, so I didn't think too much of it. But during the night, the itching got intense -- I actually dreamed about it. And, the spots and itching spread to both feet.

On Monday, after a quick websearch suggested I might have anything from strep throat to foot and mouth disease, I decided I'd just get down to the doc's and get antibiotics started.

Good thing I did. The French doc diagnosed the strep throat immediately when she looked into my throat, but then when she saw my feet, she said, "Hmm....very interesting". That is not something you want a examining medical professional to say. She believes I have come down with either scarlet fever or hand and mouth disease. (Actually I just looked it up and I my symptoms match the classic symptoms of foot and hand disease 100%, but I'm just an amateur doctor) Doesn't really matter because both are related to streptococcus bacteria and both are treated with penicillin. It's often transmitted by children and according to PubMed, "Coxsackie virus is transmitted by contamination with feces". WHAT? Coxsackie? Feces? Now that I think about it, I went to a Chinese hospital on Friday and probably encountered about 500 people in two hours or so. Next time I'm wearing a mask and gloves.

Although I didn't even know scarlet fever still existed, apparently I have it and should be better after a week or so. In the meanwhile, it really sucks because I'm hungry all the time but can't eat much because I have these big white ulcers in the back of my throat and it hurts like heck to swallow. If you're trying to lose weight, I highly recommend this.

If you're in Shanghai, look me up and I can pass it on to you personally :)

Hope everyone had a more fun Fourth of July wherever you are...