Current status of the question of the causative agent of scarlatina

The question of the causative agent of scarlet fever has long been a topic of research. About forty years ago for the first time in this disease was noted the presence of streptococcus. The constant presence of the latter in scarlet fever was inadvertently associated with its possible pathological role, and while some authors attributed to it the role of the causative agent, others recognized only a secondary role for it, making dependent on streptococcus the occurrence of various complications of scarlet fever, while V. Babes, D'Espine, Soerensen, W. Class, Baginky, Sommerfeld, Hlava considered scarlatina as a pure streptococcal infection, other researchers like G. Grooke, A. Fraenkel, Rasken, Heubner, Marmorek, Slavuk, Freudenberg, Salge, Kassowitz believed that scarlatina is caused by a yet unknown virus. However, the latter authors also thought that this unknown pathogen creates favorable conditions for streptococcus, due to which its virulence increases and its penetration into the tissues of the sick body becomes possible.