Back in the early 40 s, when I was around three years old, I developed scarlet fever along with my siblings that almost took my life because the hospital I was in did not have an anitbiotic to deal with the infection. A number of us were placed in a home owed by the hospital in Bismarck, ND, and left to heal or die. Fortunately, a doctor decided to try sulfa meds, which were being used by the service men. I survived the ordeal with many sores in and around my mouth. My oldest sister was diagnosed with rheumatic fever, but not I, as far as I knw. Recently, I mentined this story to my present physician, who believed I, too, suffered from rheumatic fever, which could account for some of the problems I have developed as an adult. My question is this: Could scarlet fever develop into rheumatic fever?