The rash is a rash associated with a systemic or general disease, usually of infectious cause. The rashes are more frequent in childhood than at any other time in life, and our children will probably present them at some time or another.
In most cases they are due to self-limited viral infections, but sometimes they are the manifestation of a serious illness.
The rashes are pronounced, have a changing presentation and are only a clinical sign that can help diagnose the disease, although it is usually diagnosed afterwards.
In children there are numerous diseases that occur with rash. Some of them of unknown cause and without an effective treatment, and others that are accompanied by fever at some time of its presentation, as in the case of sudden rash or sixth disease, which causes family alarm and is, on many occasions, The main reason for consultation.
The first step in the diagnosis will be to establish whether or not the process is infectious. Fever is the fundamental fact: its absence constitutes at all times of the evolution of the rash a fact to doubt its infectious etiology, although it does not totally exclude it.
There are diseases that present with fever and rash and that require urgent attention or fast These are: Kawasaki disease, streptococcal or staphylococcal toxic shock syndrome, drug reactions and Stevens-Johnson syndrome.
Sometimes it is the fever that precedes the rash, as in the case of the sudden rash that affects many babies in the first year of life.
Classification of rashes
There is various types of rashes, and each of them can be caused by viruses, bacteria and other causes, with different characteristics and that usually affect specific population groups. Due to their physical characteristics, these rashes can be:
- Macular and maculopapular rashes.
- Petechial and purpuric rashes. Any petechial or purpuric rash is an alert sign that requires urgent attention and an analytical evaluation to rule out a meningococcal infection.
- Exanthemas that present with diffuse erythroderma.
- Other rashes: mouth-hand-foot syndrome, pityriasis rosea, eruptive pseudoangiomatosis ...
Most rashes in children under 4 years old are due to enterovirus, adenovirus or herpesvirus 6 and 7 infections. However, the prevalence of meningococcal disease is also higher than 2 years of age than at any other time of life.
Parvovirus and scarlet fever infections occur, especially in school children, while Mycoplasma pneumoniae infections do in school children and adolescents.
The most frequent viral rashes were numbered as they were described and differentiated from the previous ones, so the first is measles, scarlet fever the second, rubella the third ... The fifth disease is infectious erythema, caused by parvovirus B19 and the sixth it is the sudden rash or roseola of the infant ...
As we see, there are many kinds of rashes or rashes in childhood, and before his presence, we must go to the pediatrician to assess and make the proper diagnosis, as well as to prevent complications associated with severe cases.
