I had never heard of this disease before, and wanted to share what I learned this past week...because it is a disease that (typically) is not serious, but during the week-long infection...it is extremely frightening to watch your little one go through these awful symptoms!
Roseola is a viral infection that is so common, it affects MOST children before school age, especially in toddlers under age of 2 years.
Plus, once you realize what your child has Roseola (due to the "tell-tale sign" of a pink patchy-rash after a high fever), the illness is almost over.
So, to save some parents time and agony for future, here is my run-down of Roseola.
According to the Mayo Clinic:
Roseola is characterized by a sudden high fever (103 degrees, or even higher!), that can last for many days (my son's fever lasted five days). Then the tell-tale sign is a rash over the belly, back, neck and face AFTER the fever is over. The rash is not painful and not itchy.
I also learned that my husband and I have different ideas of what a "rash" is. I was shocked to see a rash over my son's body (pink dots all over), and my hubby said "that's no rash!". His idea of a "rash" is a large area of a continuous red patch, not a few pink dots.
So, just to be clear: a "rash" is defined as any change in the skin; an eruption on the body typically with little or no elevation above the surface.
A frightening complication of Roseola, due to the spike in fever, is febrile seizures. I wrote about our experience with my son's first (and hopefully only!) seizure, convulsing and loss of consciousness here: (https://www.empowher.com/ask/maternity-/-parenting/my-toddler-had-a-febr...).
I did not realize that seizures were also common and nothing to worry about...although it is scary to go through (and, at the time, you're not sure what exactly is happening).
I was told by my pediatrician to call if a fever lasts more than 24 hours. So, I was nervous when my son's fever was lasting for five days! I didn't know how much fever-reducing medicine to give him, as the package says to not give more than 5 doses in 24 hour period. Great, but what if the fever lasts 120 hours on-and-off?! Has this happened to you?
Lastly, after a week of rocking, holding and carrying my once-semi-independent son continuously, sleeping on the floor in his room, rocking him to sleep, trying to be comforting when he is crying and irritable (and, frankly, irritating to be around...sorry to say!!)...he gets a rash all over his body, and I find it ironic that this is a good sign?! Oh well...the body works in mysterious ways, I guess.
He is pretty darn cute, smiling and laughing now that he's feeling better, although he's blotchy and speckled with a rash. Good thing he still thinks he's cute (he likes to kiss the mirror at the cute baby looking at him!).
I am curious, though--why is Roseola so common, and extremely contagious, and is not mentioned to first-time parents?! I really am a normal, laid-back person until I visit the E.R. with my child, and then I turn into hyper-vigilant, over-protective, emotional-yet-stable (and un-stable) mother!
One additional note about fever-reducing medicines. I received conflicting information, and am curious what everyone else's pediatricians have told them. The E.R. doctors/nurses told us to "stay on top of his fever" by giving him a regime of acetaminophen and ibuprofen. I realized, in practice, this means giving him medicine round the clock...and then how do you know when the fever is gone or is the medicine still just working?! Our pediatrician said you *don't* want to "stay on top of the fever", and to give as little medicine as it takes to control the fever (which is more of our philosophy, anyways). He said that fever-reducing medicine is to make the child comfortable, not to prevent a febrile seizure from occurring again. Interesting...any thoughts?
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OMG! Thank you so much for writing this. My son started a fever of 103 sunday morning and lasted until wed at4 p.m. We went to the ER b/c tylenol was not taking care of the fever. They also told us to rotate tylenol and motrin every three hours for 24 hours?!? He was miserable, didn't leave my lap, and we just didn't know what to do. Today is Thur and we went to the DR. she said he had the disease and there was nothing we could do for him. It would be nice if someone (like the ER or the Dr) gives you some info on this when they are born. I have never heard of it before. Again, thank you to the moms out there, who I'm sure, feel like they are being a crazy, over protective mother. But thank god we all were,right!?!
February 4, 2010 - 12:37pmThis Comment
My son came down with a fever on boxing day and it just ended yesterday (4 days) not he is covered in spots all over his body, he as diarreah, and two big red patched that are raised and hot to touch. Do you think this is what it could be?
December 30, 2009 - 9:26amThis Comment
Thank you for letting us know; this is very helpful information. You are right--the sites do say that Kawasaki is rare, but if the ER technicians are seeing this disease, it does make you question how "rare" it truly is.
I did some research, and here is what I found to be the biggest differences between Kawasaki and Roseola (as both include a high fever lasting over a few days, and a rash):
Kawasaki Disease:
- peeling skin
- rash on mid-section
- redness on bottom of hands and feet (why the mis-diagnosis of HFM disease above)
- bloodshot, red eyes
- edema (swelling) of hands and feet
- hands and feet are tender-to-the-touch
- "inflammation of blood vessels, possibly including coronary artery"
Roseola:
- rash in mid-section of body
- rash quickly spreads to arms, legs, neck
- rash is not on hands or sole of feet (unlike Kawasaki disease)
- rash is not uncomfortable or itchy or tender-to-the-touch (unlike Kawasaki disease)
Kawasaki disease does sound like a mixture of many other possible condition, and is easy to see why it was misdiagnosed (red eyes=allergies; edema and rash on hands and feet=Hand, Foot, Mouth disease). I am so glad that you were able to see health care providers who could put all of these symptoms together and find out what was going on with your son. Plus, it sounds like the "red eyes" started out as looking like common eye irritation from allergens, but your description of "quickly looked worse and very scary" makes me realize that this was a big factor in diagnosing Kawasaki disease. I am so sorry you went through this with your son, but am very happy he is doing well!
October 18, 2009 - 8:03amThis Comment
Some more details on my son's Kawasakis...
The rash started on his feet and looked very similar to Hand Foot & Mouth, blistery -type rash. It spread very quickly from his feet to his legs, torso, arms, face/head (within 24 hours). Took him to the doctor when they were on his feet. Diagnosis: HF & M. Once all over the body, it looked very red (like a Scarlet Fever type rash). Once the rash made it to his head, then the red eyes started. Started off looking like red eyes you would associate with allergies. Quickly looked worse and very scary.
The staff at the ER said Kawasaki Disease is very common, unlike some sites that say it is rare.
October 18, 2009 - 7:20amThis Comment
Symptoms of Kawasaki disease include:
A fever lasting at least 5 days.
Red eyes.
A body rash.
Swollen, red lips and tongue.
Swollen, red feet and hands.
Swollen lymph nodes in the neck.
FOr more info on Kawasaki Disease click on the link below:
http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/tc/kawasaki-disease-topic-overview
The fever did not want to go down despite all my efforts....Tylenol, Motrin, cold compresses, cool baths. I finally decided to go to the ER when he had fever over 104 and I had just given him a dose of meds 1 hour prior. The doctor's office kept telling me to sit and wait. The red eyes are like something out of a horror movie. His tongue and feet were slightly swollen but nothing I would have thought twice about because I assumed it was part of the rash. My son was extremely irritable, just plain miserable.
I don't want to alarm anyone but do want other parents to be aware of this disease. The symptoms do "go away," but the damage left behind is life altering. I was told to sit it out and wait plus was misdiagnosed.
Be smart. Follow your gut instinct. Be persistant.
October 18, 2009 - 7:07amThis Comment
Just wondering if you have ever heard of Kawasaki Disease. It includes high fever and rash all over the body...plus other symptoms...very common, but never mentioned. If untreated within 10 days of the fever starting, it could permanently damage your child's heart leading to heart disease. Note: The fever and rash will go away and you will think your child is recovering just fine, but in truth, they need to be checked out by a Cardiologist. This happened to my son when he was 1 1/2 years old. Luckily, we caught it on day five ....no heart damage. PLease,please,please have your child's heart checked out. He was misdiagnosed by his doctor (Hand Foot and Mouth) but the ER knew right away that he had Kawasaki Disease.
October 18, 2009 - 5:06amThis Comment
I am so glad to hear that your child is fine, and would love to hear more about your story!
Can you tell us what the "other symptoms" include, as I think this is very important. Most of the parents (including myself) children only had the symptoms of a high fever and rash...so the "other symptoms" are crucial to know, to prevent all of us from running to the Cardiologist. Of course, we would run..not walk...to the Cardiologist if it were required, and also the Hand, Foot, Mouth disease is so common, it is very important to distinguish the three conditions. We want our kids to be diagnosed correctly, while balancing their health in other ways---by not being subjected to tests they do not need. What a difficult balance---not wanting your child to be mis-diagnosed, and also not wanting them to be in the hospital, under watch 24/7 for fear they may develop something!
October 18, 2009 - 6:11amThis Comment
Thank You Alison for all the info. How long can we expect the rash to stay?
September 18, 2009 - 4:33pmThis Comment
I'm glad this information helped! The rash was at its worst for maybe 12-24 hours, and started subsiding after that. It may have lasted up to 2 days, with most of it gone after the 24 hours.
October 18, 2009 - 6:24amThis Comment
Same here!! Seems to be a lot of similar stories just in the last couple weeks...NO seizures here but man what a long weekend..I about freaked out when I heard my husband say my daughter had a head to toe rash over the phone after a long weekend of a fever. I hope this is over....we are in prep for the swine flu at the preschool I work for and thats THE LAST THING I WANT TO BRING MY DAUGHTER BACK TO!!!!
September 8, 2009 - 10:17pmThis Comment