A historic case of relapsing-remitting Alzheimer's disease in an adolescent attributed to scarlet fever.

Authors

Richard Lathe
Brian J. Balin, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic MedicineFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-2025

Abstract

We draw attention to a historic case of a boy who suffered from scarlet fever (typically caused by the bacterium Streptococcus pyogenes) at age 7 years and went on to develop the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease (AD). His physicians believed that the subsequent dementia was related to the infection. After death at 24 years of age, postmortem brain examination revealed abundant AD-type senile plaques and fibrils, formally confirming AD. Other potential causes of early-onset dementia are discussed, but these are distinct from patient E.H. This case is pertinent regarding the current debate about the potential role of infection in AD.

Publication Title

Journal of Alzheimer's Disease Reports

Volume

9

PubMed ID

40034507

Comments

This article was published in Journal of Alzheimer's Disease Reports, Volume 14, Issue 9.

The published version is available at https://doi.org/10.1177/25424823241298530.

Copyright © 2025 The Author(s). CC BY-NC.

Recommended Citation

Lathe, Richard and Balin, Brian J., "A historic case of relapsing-remitting Alzheimer's disease in an adolescent attributed to scarlet fever." (2025). PCOM Scholarly Works. 2308.
https://digitalcommons.pcom.edu/scholarly_papers/2308 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/25424823241298530