In the article, we consider diseases accompanied by a rash in children.
It often happens that babies begin to appear various rashes on the body, which may be a sign that the child has any disease. Currently, more than a hundred different diseases that may have primary or secondary manifestations in the form of a rash have been investigated. But parents do not need to try to independently understand all these conditions, but they need to immediately contact a doctor. Only after a thorough examination of the lesions on the skin, the doctor can determine the real cause of the origin of the rash in the child.
Causes
The main causes of the rash can be divided into four existing groups:
- allergic reaction;
- infectious and parasitic disease;
- blood and vascular diseases;
- lack of necessary hygiene.
If the main cause of the rash on the cheeks of a child is an infection, then its other signs can be observed, for example, nausea, vomiting, lack of appetite, fever, chills, runny nose, cough, abdominal pain, sore throat. Among other things, a rash can be both the first symptom of a developing infection, and manifest itself the next day.
It usually follows along with other common childhood diseases, such as measles, scarlet fever, rubella, chickenpox.
The most dangerous among them is meningococcal infection. Meningococcus is an infection most commonly called nasopharyngitis that can be easily treated, although in some cases it can lead to meningitis (inflammation of the meninges) and blood poisoning (meningococcemia). A rash in a child with meningococcemia is often accompanied by hemorrhage and high fever. Such a disease can be very dangerous, because from the moment of the first manifestations to the death of a person no more than a day can pass. Therefore, even at the slightest suspicion of a meningococcal infection, the patient is sent to the hospital and treatment is started immediately. With the treatment started on time, there are chances of a favorable outcome of 80-90%.
What other types of rash do children have?
An allergic rash appears after penetration inside or as a result of contact with any allergens. At the same time, anything can become allergens: nuts, milk, chocolate, certain medicines, animal hair, laundry detergent, fabric softener, body creams, clothing fabrics, and others. Also, similar allergic reactions can occur even after a slight touch to something. The most common example of this kind is a rash after a nettle or jellyfish burn. If you properly evaluate the diet and everything that surrounds your child, you will most likely be able to understand the cause of the allergy. It must be remembered that mosquito bites in a child can also cause a local allergic reaction, as a result of this, numerous marks from mosquito bites can often be mistaken for a rash.
The cause of a rash in a child may be various skin parasites. For example, scabies is manifested due to a tick that is capable of undergoing microscopic strokes on thin skin between the fingers, wrists, genitals, and other parts of the body. In the affected area, a characteristic itching appears. Scabies is also a highly contagious disease, you need to seek treatment from a dermatologist.
Rashes in diseases of the blood and blood vessels often have a hemorrhagic sign, that is, they occur due to hemorrhages in the skin. In accordance with the pathology, it can look like a large bruise of various colors, as well as a rash in the form of small dots that covers all parts of the body.
What does the temperature and rash in a child mean is of interest to many parents.
Due to the peculiarities of children's skin and frequent hygiene disorders, common diseases in infancy are diaper dermatitis, diaper rash, diaper rash. No need to diligently wrap up the child. And you must try not to allow the child to be in wet diapers or diapers. You also need to bathe and wash the child as often as possible and let his skin breathe, it is useful to practice air baths with a rash on the child’s stomach.
With a viral infection, rashes often do not appear immediately, but only two or four days after the temperature has started and catarrhal phenomena have occurred (cough, runny nose, sore throat). The spots during measles are distributed from top to bottom: at first the rash appears on the cheeks of the child, on the head, then in the upper part of the body, on the hands, then they go lower and lower, touching the legs, completely covers the whole body in three days. The spots are slightly raised above the skin, can be large and merge.
Chicken pox (chickenpox)
Rashes during chickenpox occur most often on the face, trunk and scalp. Their symptoms change during the course of the disease: at first, reddish spots protruding slightly above the skin, after a while they turn into vesicles, which contain a transparent, gradually turbid substance. The size of such chickenpox is not more than 4-5 mm. After a while they dry out, brown crusts appear in their place. A baby's rash during chickenpox is usually accompanied by itching. An important feature is additional bedding (the emergence of new elements), which often manifests itself with heat.
For what other reasons will a baby get a temperature and a rash?
Rubella
A rubella rash appears along with a symptom of intoxication, fever, an increase in the occipital lymph nodes. Multiple small spots (no more than 3-5 mm in size) occur in a few hours, distributed from top to bottom, but much faster than during measles, such a rash reaches the legs per day. The rash persists for three days, then disappears without a trace.
The bulk of the small rash in the child falls on the buttocks and bends of the arms and legs. It must be remembered that this viral infection can be very dangerous for pregnant women due to adverse effects on the fetus. Therefore, if rubella has been detected in a child, pregnant women should not be invited.
There are other types of rash in children.
Scarlet fever
The disease begins with the symptoms of a classic sore throat. Rashes come, as a rule, on the second day. The rash appears as small dots that cover almost the entire surface of the body. Especially there are a lot of them in the inguinal folds, in the folds of the elbows, in the armpits and in the lower abdomen. In the place of the most pronounced rashes, the skin is red, hot to the touch, swelling appears. After a couple of days, the signs of the disease, like the rash on the baby’s stomach, go away, and then the skin begins to peel off.
Allergic rash
Almost always occurs suddenly, often accompanied by severe runny nose and tearing, itching appears. The rash has a relief appearance, is clearly visible. When taking antiallergic drugs, all symptoms stop.
Scabies
This form of rash is accompanied by unbearable itching and looks like point elements that are located in pairs, next to each other. Usually located on the abdomen, hands and between the fingers.
Bite marks
What else can a rash on a child's face mean?
Traces of mosquito bites and other insects can often be mistaken for an infectious rash. An itchy red tubercle (papule) appears in the bite area. Their frequent localization, place on the body, season of the year and the absence of other symptoms characteristic of the infection can help distinguish this rash from an infectious one.
Toxic erythema
A rash on the face of a child with toxic erythema is characteristic of half of all newborn full-term babies. The main symptoms are yellow-white papules or pustules 1-2 mm in size, which are surrounded by a red rim. In some cases, only red spots appear in an insignificant amount or almost to the complete defeat of the whole body (except the feet and hands). Usually, rashes appear on the second day of life, and then they gradually disappear. Their exact origin is unknown, such a rash disappears on its own. The causes of a rash in a child are very diverse.
Acne Newborn
These are conditions through which about 20% of all newborns with an age of three weeks go through. On the neck, face, less often on the scalp, a rash appears in the form of red papules and pustules. The main reason for such rashes is the activation of the sebaceous glands with the help of maternal hormones. Usually, treatment of acne in newborns is not necessary, only careful hygiene and moisturizing with emollients are needed. In contrast to youthful acne, acne in infants does not leave scars or spots after itself, and disappears within six months.
Prickly heat
A rash on the back in a child of this species is very common in newborns, especially in the summer season. It arises as a result of the difficult exit of the sweat gland contents and increased skin moisture during entangling. A popular place of occurrence is considered to be the face, head and area of diaper rash. Spots, pustules and vesicles hardly inflame, cause inconvenience and disappear with proper care.
Rash actions
If a child has a rash on the skin, the following rules must be observed:
- In all cases, you need to call a doctor to your home so that in a situation of infectious damage you do not infect others in the transport and clinic. In addition, each patient with an infectious rash should be isolated from pregnant women until the doctor finds out what the disease is.
- If your child has symptoms of meningococcal infection, you should immediately call a doctor.
- Before the arrival of the doctor, you do not need to lubricate the skin affected by the rash, especially treat with solutions with a dye (for example, "green"). As already known, the main causes of infection are internal. Therefore, the necessary positive effect from the processing of rash elements cannot be achieved. It will be much more difficult for a doctor to make a diagnosis.
If the rash on the child’s back was caused by contact with clothing, you need to know that in addition to tissue materials, allergic reactions can be caused by residues of washing powder or fabric softener. In this case, it is necessary to change the manufacturer or use hypoallergenic hygiene products.
Treatment
Only after a thorough examination and interrogation will the doctor be able to make the correct diagnosis and prescribe the appropriate treatment. As a rule, viral infections do not require special treatment; antibiotics should be taken for bacterial diseases.
To treat a rash in a child of an allergic origin, you just need to stop contacting with allergens and suppress the excessive immune response with antihistamines, glucocorticosteroids and other drugs. Given the severity of the condition, these drugs can also be used in the form of tablets, ointments or injections.
If the rash occurs due to a blood or vascular disease, the doctor should refer the child to a hematologist.
Treatment of scabies is prescribed by a dermatologist, it includes, among other things, a whole range of anti-epidemic methods.
Prevention
Prevention of childhood infectious diseases primarily consists in observing the vaccination calendar. You need to know that a vaccine for meningococcal infection has already been developed . You need to talk with your doctor and find out at what time it is better to vaccinate a child from this serious infection.
Vaccination is a great invention of people, which can make it possible to prevent numerous serious diseases. But on the other hand, any vaccination for a child is a difficult test for a tender small organism. Often there are times when children are very difficult to tolerate vaccinations, during which an allergic reaction may occur or the temperature may rise. But this does not mean at all that further vaccinations are no longer worth doing. You must remind your doctor of possible reactions, and he may advise taking antihistamines a day or two before the indicated vaccination.
Allergic diseases very often occur in childhood. Because children at this age still have immature immunity. And for every new stimulus, the immune system reacts extremely strongly.
It is necessary to gradually include in the diet new foods, one at a time. Then it will probably be known what caused the manifestation of food allergies. A child with frequently occurring allergic reactions must be under the supervision of an allergist. With proper treatment, in many cases, when children become older, they "outgrow their allergies." So the irritant that bothered him constantly after a few years absolutely ceases to make itself felt.