Scarlet fever in Poland in 2003

Following the last epidemic in 1995 the scarlet fever incidence in Poland has been gradually decreasing. The downward trend continued in 2003, with overall incidence rate of 10.1 per 100,000. The incidence registered during 2001-2003 dropped below the lowest level noted ever sine the introduction of mandatory reporting in 1918. Regionally the incidence ranged from 3.4 per 100,000 in lódzkie voivodeship to 21.8 in opolskie voivodeship. As observed previously incidence in the urban areas (11.8) was significantly higher then in the rural areas (7.5) and the incidence in men (11.1) exceeded the incidence in women (9.2). The majority of cases occurred in children and adolescents younger then 15 years (mode--6 years; incidence 132.3). Approximately 3% of cases were hospitalized. There were no deaths due to scarlet fever reported in 2003.