A38.0Scarlet fever with otitis media

A38.0 is the ICD-10-CM diagnosis code for Scarlet fever with otitis media. It belongs to category A38 (Scarlet fever), block A30-A49 (other bacterial diseases) and chapter 1 (certain infectious and parasitic diseases). It is billable, so it can be reported on its own for dates of service from October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027.

Within A38 (Scarlet fever), A38.0 is specifically for Scarlet fever with otitis media. Related codes cover with myocarditis (A38.1), with other complications (A38.8) and uncomplicated (A38.9).

As a secondary diagnosis it is a CC (complication or comorbidity), which can move an inpatient stay into the "with CC" MS-DRG of its family, unless the principal diagnosis excludes it.

In MS-DRG v44.0, it is part of the grouping logic for DRG 867 (Other Infectious and Parasitic Diseases Diagnoses with MCC, relative weight 2.1859), DRG 868 (Other Infectious and Parasitic Diseases Diagnoses with CC, relative weight 1.0235) and DRG 869 (Other Infectious and Parasitic Diseases Diagnoses without CC/MCC, relative weight 0.6787), in MDC 18 (Infectious and Parasitic Diseases, Systemic or Unspecified Sites), as a principal or secondary diagnosis. The DRG a claim lands in depends on the principal diagnosis, procedures and any CC/MCC secondary diagnoses.

It has been part of ICD-10-CM since the code set took effect on October 1, 2015 and hasn't changed since.

Before ICD-10, this condition was coded in ICD-9-CM as 034.1 (Scarlet fever).