[Scarlet fever in Poland in 2002].

Following the last epidemic in 1995 the scarlet fever incidence in Poland has been gradually decreasing, on average 20% per year. The downward trend continued in 2002, the overall incidence rate being 10.6 per 100,000. It was the lowest incidence registered in Poland since the introduction of mandatory reporting of scarlet fever in 1918 (the lowest so far registered incidence rates were 15.2 in 2001 and 17.5 in 1918). Spatial distribution of cases was relatively even--incidence ranged from 5.0 per 100,000 in łódzkie voivodeship to 25.1 in opolskie voivodeship. As observed previously incidence in the urban areas (12.0) was significantly higher then in the rural areas (8.4) and the incidence in men (11.7) exceeded the incidence in women (9.6). The majority of cases occurred in children and adolescents younger then 15 years (mode--6 years). Two percent of cases were hospitalized. There were no deaths due to scarlet fever reported in 2002.