A worried mum who was left shaken by her screaming son who had caught Strep A is urging parents to remain vigilant.
Adele Armstrong's son Antonio, 5, was hospitalised after his throat became swollen and started to bleed last month.
Ms Armstrong, 37, and her son were at Glasgow's Christmas market with her partner Fiona Weir when they noticed the soreness and bleeding on the youngster's throat, the Daily Record reports.
Days later, the Scottish boy, from Hawick, developed 'strawberry tongue' - a condition where your tongue is covered in a white coating with small red dots.
Ms Armstrong took Antonio to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness after he refused to eat, caught a fever, and developed rashes across his body.
There the family discovered he had the deadly infection, and was in and out of hospital for a week.
Luckily, Antonio has returned home and is on the mend, but his mum wanted to raise awareness for others, urging them to "trust their instincts".
Ms Armstrong explained Antonio first developed a sore throat on November 25, before going off his food.
She said: "Then he started really complaining of his throat, he didn't want to eat and I became very concerned when I couldn't get his temperature down.
"Two days later, unfortunately, Antonio became more ill and tired and was sleeping all the time.
"He was screaming in pain, when I noticed he still had a rash and an uncontrollable temperature, so we then attended Inverness Raigmore hospital where told he had scarlet fever.
"He had a bacterial throat swab sent home with advice and antibiotics but unfortunately he is allergic to penicillin so was given Azithromycin, which we are currently on the second dose of as the first didn't work.
"We were called on November 29 to say he had tested positive for Strep A. If it was not for Raigmore Hospital I'm sure this would be a different story.
"I think all parents should take this seriously, even if they think it's just a cold - get checked as I've never seen nor do I want to see my boy this way again. Me and his other mum were very concerned and worried about him. I really thought I was going to lose him."
On Tuesday she shared images of the youngster's symptoms and said: "Please be cautious. Just thought I'd let people know about the sign of Strep A accompanied with scarlet fever.
"I've never been so scared in my life. Antonio was screaming in pain. I thought it was a cold but no I ended up in hospital just under a week with a few complications.
"Here is what he was like thankfully slowly recovering while on his second round of antibiotics. I have to say Inverness hospital really did save my boys life by catching it when they did.
"Signs were fever, red cheeks, rash, fatigue and screaming in pain. Please don't just think it's a cold."
Julie Lamb commented: "Aw, precious soul and praying for a full recovery. Each day getting better and better."
While Anita Wilson said: "So glad you caught this, hope he is better soon." Louise Robson said: "Hope Antonio is feeling better and on the mend."
Shelley Cutting added: "Many children are coming down with flu too, a very bad combination.
Strep A has seen a rise in the number of cases within the last three months, with nine children being confirmed as dying from the virus in the UK over recent weeks.
Symptoms of Strep A include throat pain, red or swollen tonsils, spots at the back of or at the roof of the mouth, headache, fever, nausea, swollen lymph nodes, and body aches.
