In the article, we will consider diseases accompanied by a rash in children.
It often happens that babies begin to develop various rashes on the body, which may be a sign that the child has some kind of disease. Currently, more than a hundred different diseases have been investigated, which can have primary or secondary manifestations in the form of a rash. But parents do not need to try to figure out all these conditions on their own, but you should immediately consult a doctor. Only after a complete examination of the lesions on the skin, the doctor will be able to determine the real cause of the rash in the child.
Reasons
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 proper hygiene.
If the main cause of a rash on the cheeks of a childis an infection, it will be possible to observe its other signs, for example, nausea, vomiting, lack of appetite, fever, chills, runny nose, cough, abdominal pain, sore throat. Among other things, a rash can become both the first symptom of a developing infection and manifest itself the next day.
It usually follows along with other common childhood illnesses such as measles, scarlet fever, rubella, chickenpox.
The most dangerous among them is meningococcal infection. Meningococcus, commonly referred to as nasopharyngitis, is an easy-to-treat infection, although in some cases it can lead to meningitis (inflammation of the lining of the brain) and blood poisoning (meningococcemia). A rash in a child with meningococcemia is often accompanied by hemorrhages and high fever. Such a disease can be very dangerous, because no more than a day can pass from the moment of the first manifestations to the death of a person. Therefore, even with the slightest suspicion of a meningococcal infection, the patient is sent to the hospital and immediately begins treatment. With timely treatment, there are 80-90% chances for a favorable outcome.
What other types of rashes do children get?
Allergic rash appears after penetration or as a result of contact with some allergens. At the same time, anything can become allergens: nuts, milk, chocolate, certain medicines, animal hair, washing powder, fabric softener, body creams, clothing fabrics and others. Also similarallergic reactions can occur even after a slight touch to something. The most common example of this kind are rashes after stings of nettles or jellyfish. 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 which numerous mosquito bite marks can often be mistaken for a rash.
The cause of a rash in a child may be various skin parasites. For example, scabies manifests itself due to a tick that is able to make microscopic moves on thin skin between the fingers, on the wrists, genitals and other parts of the body. A characteristic itching appears in the affected area. Scabies is also highly contagious and should be treated by 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. According to the pathology, it can look like a large bruise of various colors, or as a rash in the form of small dots that covers all parts of the body.
What does a child's temperature and rash mean, is of interest to many parents.
Due to the characteristics of the skin of children and frequent violations of hygiene, diaper dermatitis, diaper rash, prickly heat are common diseases in infancy. It is not necessary to wrap the child diligently. And it is necessary to try not to allow the child to be in wet diapers ordiapers. 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 rises and catarrhal phenomena (cough, runny nose, sore throat) have begun. Spots during measles are distributed from top to bottom: first, a rash appears on the child’s cheeks, on the head, then in the upper body, on the arms, then they go down lower and lower, affecting the legs, completely covering the entire body in three days. The spots are slightly raised above the skin, may be large and merge.
Chickenpox (chickenpox)
Rashes during chickenpox occur most often on the face, trunk and scalp. Their signs 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 cloudy substance. The size of such wind vesicles is not more than 4-5 mm. After some time, they dry out, in their place appear brown crusts. A rash in a child during chickenpox is usually accompanied by itching. An important feature is additional sprinkling (the appearance of new elements), which often manifests itself along with heat.
What other reasons would help a child develop a fever and rash?
Rubella
Rash with rubella manifests itself along with a symptom of intoxication, fever,enlargement of the occipital lymph nodes. Multiple small spots (no more than 3-5 mm in size) appear in a few hours, distributed from top to bottom, but much faster than during measles, such a rash reaches the legs in a day. The rash persists for three days, then disappears without a trace.
The bulk of a small rash in a child falls on the buttocks and the folds 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 was detected in a child, you should not invite pregnant women to visit.
There are other types of rashes in children.
Scarlet fever
The disease begins with symptoms of 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. There are especially many of them in the inguinal folds, in the bends 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, as well as the rash on the child’s stomach, go away, and then the skin begins to peel off.
Allergic rash
Almost always occurs suddenly, often accompanied by a 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 byunbearable itching and looks like dotted elements, which are located in pairs, next to each other. Usually located on the abdomen, hands and between the fingers.
Bite marks
What else could a rash on a baby's face mean?
Mosquito bites and other insect bites can often be mistaken for an infectious rash. An itchy red bump (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 an infection can help distinguish this rash from an infectious one.
Toxic erythema
A rash on the face of a child with toxic erythema is typical for half of all newborn full-term babies. The main features 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 a small amount or almost to the point of complete involvement of the entire 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.
Newborn Acne
These are conditions that about 20% of all newborns go through by the age of three weeks. 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, acne treatment in newborns is not necessary, only careful hygiene and moisturizing with emollients are needed. ATThe opposite of acne vulgaris, acne in babies doesn't leave a scar or blemish, and clears up within six months.
Sweating
Rash on the back of a child of this type is very common in newborns, especially in the summer season. It occurs as a result of the difficult exit of the contents of the sweat glands and increased moisture of the skin during bandaging. A popular place of occurrence is the face, head and areas of diaper rash. Spots, pustules and blisters are almost inflamed, do not cause discomfort and disappear with proper care.
Actions for rashes
If a child has skin rashes, the following rules must be followed:
In all cases, you need to call a doctor at home, so that in a situation of infectious damage not to infect others in transport and the clinic. In addition, anyone with an infectious rash should be isolated from pregnant women until such time as the doctor finds out what kind of disease
- If a child has symptoms of a meningococcal infection, a doctor should be called immediately.
- Before the arrival of the doctor, it is not necessary to lubricate the skin affected by the rash, especially treat it with solutions with a dye (for example, "brilliant green"). As already known, the main causes of infection are internal. Therefore, the necessary positive effect from the treatment of the elements of the rash cannot be achieved. In addition, it will be much more difficult for a doctor to make a diagnosis.
If the rash is onback of the child was caused by contact with clothing, you need to know that in addition to fabric 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 questioning, the doctor will be able to make a 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 with an allergic origin, you simply need to stop contact with allergens and suppress the excessive immune response with antihistamines, glucocorticosteroids and other drugs. Given the severity of the condition, these medicines can also be taken as tablets, ointments or injections.
If the rash is 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 schedule. You need to know that a vaccine against meningococcal infection has already been developed. You need to talk to your doctor and find out when is the best time to vaccinate your child against this serious infection.
Vaccination is a great human invention that can make it possibleprevention of numerous serious diseases. But on the other hand, any vaccination for a child is a difficult test for a delicate little organism. Often there are cases when children are very difficult to tolerate vaccinations, during which an allergic reaction may appear or the temperature may rise. But this does not mean at all that further vaccinations are no longer worth doing. You should remind your doctor of possible reactions and he may suggest taking an antihistamine a day or two before the indicated vaccination.
Allergic diseases often occur in childhood. Because children at this age have immature immunity. And for each new irritant, the immune system reacts super-strongly.
It is necessary to gradually introduce new foods into the diet, one at a time. Then for sure it will be known what caused the manifestation of food allergies. A child with frequent allergic reactions must be under the supervision of an allergist. With proper treatment, in many cases, as children get older, they "outgrow their allergies." So that irritant that constantly bothered him, after a few years, absolutely ceases to make itself felt.
