On 21st August, our 10.5 months old Carolyn started having mild fever, 37C and we just continue monitoring her temperature and do the necessary steps to keep her temperature in check - wet hankerchiefs to wipe her all around, increase breastfeeding sessions, let her wear loose fitting fish-net like clothes and sponge bath her.
On 22nd August, her temperature increase to 38C, maximum was 38.5C and although there is increase in her temperature, she is still active as usual though we noticed she seems to have less appetite and was more sleepy than usual. We continued our fever fight routine, but I gave her paracetamol every 4 hours.
At midnight, I was relieved as I started feeling her sweat on her head. That is a good sign to see and touch sweat as it means the heat is escaping her body now. Her fever was gone the next day and we went for a family outing to our church as they are organizing a charity bazaar.
On 24th August, we started to notice rashes appearing on her body. It was mostly on her face, neck, stomach and inner thighs. The areas that are mostly covered by her clothes and diaper. She didn't seem to be irritated by the rash at all nor was she scratching them or anything. She just seems cranky and sleepy.
On 25th August morning, I googled for images which look similar to Carolyn's rashes and got myself worried as it look like chicken pox! According to this article,
"Symptoms tend to appear 14 to 16 days after the initial exposure but can occur anytime from 10 days up to 21 days after contact with the virus. Chickenpox is characterized by one to two days of mild fever up to 102 F, general weakness, and a rash, often the first sign of the disease. Rarely, a person may have the disease without the rash. The rash of chickenpox develops in crops with raised red spots arriving first, progressing to blisters that burst, forming open sores, before crusting over. This process usually starts on the scalp, then the trunk (its area of greatest concentration), and finally the arms and legs. Any area of skin that is irritated (by diaper rash, poison ivy, eczema, sunburn, etc.) is likely to be hard hit by the rash. The rash is typically very itchy (pruritic)."
I immediately gave a call to our pead and set an appointment to bring in our girl for a check. Once there she got her weight and height checked and recorded and upon checking by our 70+ years old pead, we were that it is in fact roseola. These were concluded due to her having high fever and immediately develops the rashes when the fever goes off. According to this article,
"The signs and symptoms of infection vary depending upon the age of the patient. Infants and toddlers routinely will develop sudden symptoms with a sudden onset of a high fever that lasts for three to five days. The child may also develop irritability, bulging "soft spot" on the head (fontanel), swollen glands in the front or back of the neck, runny nose, puffy eyelids (due to swelling with fluid), and mild diarrhea. Within 12-24 hours of the fever breaking, a rash rapidly appears. Older children who develop HHV-6 (or HHV-7) infection are more likely to have an illness characterized by several days of high fever and possibly a runny nose and/or diarrhea. Older children less commonly develop a rash as the fever abates."
In general, chicken pox rashes will have blisters when fever and rashes start. If it is hand-foot-mouth disease (HFMD), the blisters will have yellow center while chicken pox will have clear or white center in the blisters.
I am thankful it is just roseola and that it goes away in time.
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