Italy's prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, has contracted a mild form of scarlet fever, Italian media reported , leading him to cancel a public engagement and throwing into doubt his presence at a European Union summit this week.
The Italian daily Corriere della Sera said the 73-year-old prime minister may have contracted the illness from one of his five grandchildren. Symptoms including fever, rashes and a sore throat are treatable with antibiotics.
About 25,000 Italians catch scarlet fever each year.
Berlusconi's office did not comment on the report, but the financial daily Il Sole 24 Ore said political sources had confirmed the story and quoted the prime minister as saying: "How can I go on like this?"
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