What is roseola? The literal translation from the "medical" language of this word means a clearly defined, very bright red rash, shaped like a bean. It is also called a disease that is caused by herpes of type 6 or 7. Most often, this infectious disease affects babies under two years of age.
Sometimes people of other age categories also suffer from roseola. If an adult suddenly has constant fatigue, a decrease in appetite and immunity, irritability, and a red rash suddenly covers the skin, then perhaps roseola begins. Its symptoms in children and adults are different. If adults most often complain of skin manifestations and reduced tone, then in children the disease is more severe. Usually roseola in children begins with a sudden rise in temperature. In two or three hours, it can rise to 40 °. Naturally, all the ailments caused by the heat appear: fatigue, lethargy, headaches, and sometimes indigestion.
Babybecomes capricious, refuses to eat, sleeps badly. After a few hours, the temperature drops, but the body is covered with a characteristic pink rash. There may be a slight cough or swelling of the nasal mucosa, but there is no discharge. Roseola, which can take up to a week for a baby to show, goes away on its own. The complexity of the disease is that it is often confused with allergies, rubella and some other more common diseases. Sometimes the doctor cannot understand until the end of treatment that the patient has roseola: symptoms, especially in adults, can manifest themselves exclusively in chronic fatigue. The disease has many other names: subitum or sudden exanthema, pseudorubella, sixth disease, roseola infantum or three-day fever. The last name practically describes the course of the disease: most often, roseola in children disappears after 2-3 days.
How to treat roseola?
If a child has a high temperature, then this is a reason to call a doctor. Roseola in adults is often asymptomatic, but usually a person affected by the herpes virus feels severe, persistent fatigue. This is also a reason to visit a doctor. Treatment for this diagnosis does not require special or specific medications. The first, and often the only help, is to take antipyretic drugs for children and drugs that increase immunity. However, in no case should you prescribe drugs on your own, especially for children. Self-medication is always dangerous, and if roseola begins, some substances can only exacerbate the disease. Aspirin is strictly prohibited: it can cause a number of severe side effects. Sometimes the antipyretic has almost no effect. This is unpleasant, but not terrible: this happens if a diagnosis of roseola is made. Its symptoms in children and adults will pass in a few days. Sometimes children are prescribed antipruritics, and in the case of a runny nose, drugs that treat swelling of the nasal mucosa. At this time, you need to take a lot of fluids. Everything will do: mineral water, natural juices and homemade compotes, herbal teas. Roseola is an infectious disease, so it is recommended to limit the contact of the patient, especially children.
