roseola, maybe? anyone?

[heather j]

I have no experience with childhood illnesses (except for impetigo, and we don't want to go there again), so I'm hoping one of you can shed some light on this one. Ella started off Monday in a really awful mood with grumpiness all day, whining, etc. She had a fever that night, but not a really high one (100.0, but my kids rarely run fevers and even with two confirmed cases of the flu, we never saw anything higher than 101). The fever continued through Tuesday night and when she woke on Wednesday, the fever was gone but she had a LOT of nasal congestion, runny nose like a faucet, stuffiness. As of this morning, the nasal funk is gone, the fever is gone, but she's covered in tiny, miniscule pin-dots on her neck and torso (front and back). When I press them, they turn white. My mad, online doctoring skills tell me this is roseola.

With the fever gone, the congestion gone, and only the rash remaining, I'm hesitant to take her to the ped and expose her to other seasonal mayhem; we have a vacay planned for next week, though, so if this is something that needs to be seen, we'll go.

Thoughts?

[hols537]

That sounds like what Jonathan had over the summer. He had a high fever for about 3 days and then a rash on torso that spread for about a day and then disappeared. Since the fever was gone, I didn't bother with a doctor visit either (plus we were traveling). The rash lasted only about a day. I concluded Roseola too and he was fine. I think the rash starting on the torso following the fever is the hallmark of Roseola... Good luck!

[cheleandcallidora]

Callidora had it when she was little. She had a temp of 103 for 3 days and when it broke she had little spots everywhere. The rash lasted for about a week. I'm not a doc but it sounds like that's probably what it is. There are some other childhood illnesses that are similar but also no need to see a doc. I agree with the avoiding the waiting room and all the sick people if possible. Good Luck!

[mnmom]

Agreeing with the others. But, if she starts to run any sort of fever again, get her in. Those secondary infections are sometimes pretty nasty.

[joannek]

Sounds like roseola to me too. Sara had a fever for a couple days, the fever broke then the rash came. I think it only lasted a day or two. The rash was the last of the symptoms.

[mother bear]

Both my kids had roseola, just like you described, fever of 101-103ish for 2-3 days with exceptional crankiness, and then a rash with little red spots, starting on the trunk, when the fever broke. One had the rash for 2 days, and the other had the rash for 6.

Use your mommy intuition. The first kid, I took in because she was just so miserable and underweight and not eating, but she got better. The second kid, I knew what it was, even before the rash, and didn't take her in.

[blznbec]

My daughter had the same symptoms when she was only nine months old. I took her in and was told she had a virus, but is was not roseola. Our doctor told us just to put hydrocortisone cream on the rash and make sure she didn't get another fever.