Roseola baby: photo, symptoms and treatment

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

Children's disease roseola is an infection caused by viruses from the well-known herpes family. Most often, this infection affects children under two years of age. Adults and adolescents are much less likely to get roseola. The disease has several other names, but roseola and pseudorubella remain the most common. The second name appeared due to the fact that even experienced professionals often confuse the infection with rubella.

General characteristics

As mentioned, childhood roseola disease is most common in children between six months and two years of age. Older children and very rarely adults get sick much less often. Some of us are not even aware that they suffered from such a disease in childhood. This is due to the fact that at the age of two, roseola passes almost imperceptibly.

Most often this infection affects children in autumn and spring. Babies get sick regardless of gender. It is important to know that if once a child has already been ill with this virus, then antibodies are produced in his blood, and he will never be able to pick up this infection.

The disease is spreadingvery quickly, as it is transmitted by airborne droplets and through bodily contact. Children most often get this virus from adults who are not sick themselves but are carriers. But it is difficult to speak unambiguously about the mechanisms of transmission of the virus, since even now it is difficult for scientists to establish how roseola spreads.

The incubation period can last from five to fifteen days. At this time, the disease does not manifest itself in any way, the virus simply multiplies in the body. After this time, the first symptoms of the disease appear, which recede after ten days.

Herpes sixth and seventh type

The causative agent of roseola is the herpes virus of the sixth type, less often herpes of the seventh type acts in this role. It enters the mucous membrane of the respiratory tract and gradually penetrates into the bloodstream. During the incubation period, active reproduction occurs in the lymph nodes, as well as in the urine, blood and respiratory fluid. The incubation period ends, and a person's body temperature rises rapidly, which is caused by the entry of virus particles into the systemic circulation. It takes no more than four days for the virus to get from the blood to the skin.

The course of the disease

Already a day after the temperature stops, a small red rash appears on the child's body - roseola for children, the photo of which is presented below. It goes away on its own within a week. So, conditionally, the course of this disease can be divided into four stages:

1. On the groundstage, the temperature of the human body rises sharply and can reach forty degrees. What is most interesting, no other manifestations, such as a runny nose or cough, are observed.
2. At the second stage, the temperature completely returns to normal, and after a while the body begins to become covered with a small red rash. Also, some patients have an increase in lymph nodes.
3. After three to four days, the rash begins to disappear and disappears completely from the body in a week.
4. The fourth stage is characterized by the complete recovery of the patient and the formation of antibodies to the disease in the body.

Diagnosis of childhood roseola is based on the symptoms that the person has. The most obvious sign of infection is the temperature, which rises for no reason and, after holding out for several days, disappears without a trace. Treatment can be safely called conditional, since doctors do not prescribe any treatment. It is enough only comfortable conditions for the patient and the presence of plentiful drink. During periods of high fever, it is recommended to use antipyretics.

How to diagnose a virus

It is widely known that baby roseola is a fairly common disease among babies. But there is a paradoxical phenomenon in modern medicine. It lies in the fact that the doctor rarely writes down exanthema in the child's medical record. Why is this happening? Most likely, due to the fact that the disease is quite interesting, and not every doctor can say with certaintythat your baby is sick with roseola.

Most often, the treatment of the virus occurs according to the traditional scheme. Parents detect a sharp increase in body temperature in a baby and immediately turn to specialists. Those do not find anything better than diagnosing SARS, although no symptoms are observed. Thus, treatment is prescribed aimed at getting rid of the influenza virus or other habitual disease. Fulfilling all the recommendations of the doctor, after three or four days, the parents begin to notice that the child's body is covered with a rash, and again go to the doctor. Finding a rash, doctors say that this is a reaction to drugs that were prescribed to treat SARS.

Here you can not talk about the poor education of doctors or their inattention. It's just that modern universities rarely acquaint students with such a disease. And so it turns out that roseola completely disappears from the field of view of modern doctors. Most likely, this topic would have received more attention if the infection had been really serious. But since she does not pose any threat to human life, her treatment is carried out in a similar way.

How the virus is transmitted

The herpes virus that causes roseola in childhood can be transmitted by airborne droplets and through touch. But the main problem is that infection can occur not only after contact with a sick person, but also as a result of communication with a carrier. And almost every adult is a carrier of the disease.

Yes, inantibodies to the virus remain in a person’s blood, and he will never get sick with roseola again, but the virus itself also remains in the body. That is why anyone who had childhood roseola in childhood is not only forever protected from this disease, but can also infect their own child.

Periodically, the virus in the blood of an adult is activated, but cannot manifest itself, thanks to previously developed antibodies. However, it can be transmitted to those who have not previously had roseola. And these people are most often children under two years of age. A baby can be infected by any adult who does not even know about it. It cannot be said that this fact is negative, since the disease proceeds calmly and goes away on its own. But this is not good either, because parents have to be pretty nervous.

Symptoms

Roseola baby symptoms are not numerous. Conventionally, they can be divided into only two stages. Next, they will be discussed in more detail and show children's roseola (photo) in children.

As already mentioned, at the first stage, the main symptom of the disease is a sharp increase in the child's body temperature. There were cases when the thermometer was forty degrees. But the average body temperature with roseola is 39.7 degrees. But besides this, there is increased irritability, the child tends to sleep, he is rather whiny and lethargic. And there is also a risk that the baby will completely lose his appetite.

But all these are not the main symptoms, but simply the reaction of the child's body to the virus. There are a number of other symptoms that appear less frequently, but are also a signal for concern:

1. Lymph nodes may swell.
2. The eyelids are swollen and reddened significantly.
3. Except for the eyelids, edema appears on the nasal and oral mucosa.
4. There may be a sore throat, in such cases, doctors confidently diagnose SARS.
5. In some cases, there is a slight nasal congestion.
6. A rash may appear on the soft palate and tongue in the form of small blisters.

Symptoms of the second stage

The temperature lasts for several days, and within a day after its normalization, the body begins to become covered with a very small red rash. It may look like small spots or bubbles. They do not have a specific color or size, they are located not in one place, but throughout the body of the child. If you press on one of these bubbles, it will instantly turn white, but as soon as you remove your finger, the stain returns to its usual shape and color.

The first rash appears on the trunk, and after a few hours covers the neck, face and limbs. The rashes do not bother the wearer in any way and begin to disappear after four days, and after a week the body becomes completely clean. Such stains do not leave behind any traces. Even if some redness may linger on the body, after a while they will leave the skin. Thus ends the second stage of the disease, and the child becomes completely he althy. And the body acquires antibodies. We have reviewedbaby roseola and photo. The symptoms are not so easy to recognize.

Rash

The rash almost never appears if the temperature is still holding. This is only possible in certain cases. Traditionally, the body is covered with spots only when the body temperature is completely normal. The rash stays on the body for only a week and after this period it completely disappears from the body, as if it did not exist at all.

In general, a rash is numerous spots that cover almost all parts of the body. They have several colors from pink to bright red. The average size of one spot is 3 mm, but some can reach up to five mm in diameter. The rash does not bother its carrier in any way, and therefore the treatment of baby roseola does not require the use of any medication. It goes away on its own and leaves no marks.

Conclusion

As you can see, roseola is a fairly common disease that is more common in children. Parents do not have serious reasons to panic, since the virus is easily carried by children and goes away on its own. The only serious symptom is elevated body temperature, which can be controlled with antipyretic drugs.