Scarlet fever and group A streptococcal surgical wound infection traced to an anal carrier.

Four patients developed group A streptococcal wound infections shortly following orthopedic surgery. Two of these patients developed scarlet fever which provided an early indication of the presence of a streptococcal epidemic. A single antigenically characteristic strain of group A streptococci was recovered from the wounds of all four patients and from the anus of one surgeon who had participated in the surgery on three of the patients.