Roseola

HI K., THOUGHT THIS MAY HELP...

Roseola is a generally mild infection that usually affects children by age 2. It occasionally affects adults. Roseola is extremely common — so common that most children have been infected with roseola by the time they enter kindergarten.

Two common strains of the herpes virus cause roseola. The condition typically causes several days of fever, followed by a rash.

Some children develop only a very mild case of roseola and never show any clear indication of illness, while others experience the full range of symptoms.

Roseola typically isn't serious. Rarely, complications from a very high fever can result. Treatment of roseola includes bed rest, fluids and medications to reduce fever.

If your child is exposed to someone with roseola and becomes infected with the virus, it generally takes a week or two for signs and symptoms of infection to appear — if they appear at all. It's possible to become infected with roseola, but have signs and symptoms too mild to be readily noticeable. Roseola symptoms may include:

Fever. Roseola typically starts with a sudden, high fever — often greater than 103 F (39.4 C). Some children may also have a slightly sore throat, runny nose or cough along with or preceding the fever. Your child may also develop swollen glands in his or her neck along with the fever. The fever lasts for three to seven days.
Rash. Once the fever subsides, a rash typically appears — but not always. The rash consists of many small pink spots or patches. These spots are generally flat, but some may be raised. There may be a white ring around some of the spots. The rash usually starts on the chest, back and abdomen and then spreads to the neck and arms. It may or may not reach the legs and face. The rash, which isn't itchy or uncomfortable, can last from several hours to several days before fading.
Other signs and symptoms of roseola may include:

Fatigue
Irritability in infants and children
Mild diarrhea
Decreased appetite
Swollen eyelids

1 mom found this helpful

Yes, I have been there! My son had roseola a few weeks ago and my daughter had it around the same age. He is one and she was around 1 when she had it. They will be lethargic and extra irritable for several days. The rash will go away within a week or two. It will reoccur if they get warm or are in the sun. Hang in there, it will eventually pass.

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My girlfriend was just telling me about her daughter (7 months) having Roseola. She said her son had it when he was young too. She said high fever, fussy, lethargic, were her symptoms. She took her to the hospital and they told her there was nothing to do except for give her tylenol. Let it run its course. Hope all goes well.

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K.,

My 2 year old son had roseola in April. According everything I've read about it and our own experience, the fussiness/irritability is normal. My son was extrememly irritable for about a week after the fever broke. Good luck! I hope your daughter feels better soon!

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All of my children have had roseola. They were lethargic and ran severely high fevers. When their fevers broke, they got a rash all over their bodies. J. ( Mom of 3)

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I was actually going to past this same question. my 15 month old son had roseola last week while we were gone on vacation. my in-laws had him and he was very fussy and had a fever for about three days. i thought he was teeting b/c his molars were also breaking through. the rash developed this past friday and was gone by sunday morning. i called my ped this morning to make sure there were no side effects but havent heard back. based on the internet searches i have done once the fever and rash are gone they should return to "normal". hope your little one feels better soon.

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According to my mom, I had it at 13 months, and she said I was cranky, clingy, crabby, all of that. Don't worry, it runs its course in about a week or so.

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Yes, my daughter and son both had it.
It is a mild form of Scarlet Fever.
Since they have a fever with it they are cranky and fussy.
Generally there are no lasting complications from it.
I had it as a child as well.
My thoughts are with you.

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Both of my kids just got over it actually. It must be going around kids of that age...mine are 2 1/2 and 1 1/2 yrs old. And, of course, my kids can't keep anything to themselves, so they decided to share the virus. Anyways...yes, they get very fussy and mine got really clingy. It'll take about a week, maybe a week and a half for them to get over the fussiness. And if your kids are like mine, you'll go from one sick kid to the other! good luck!

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At least 3 different times, I was told my son had roseola. He ran extremely high fevers (104) and was very irritable. He had a rash on his body. All of the time that they told me it was roseola, he demonstrated very similar syptoms.

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Hi K.,
My oldest daughter had it and was miserable. She had fevers in excess of 105 degrees. A friend who is a paramedic talked us through the evening hours when her dr. wasn't in. We rotated Tylenol with Motrin ~ every 2 hours. We also gave her luke warm baths every 20 minutes. Our friend said as soon as she started to get goose bumps ~ or look cold to take her out. When she fell asleep, we obviously didn't wake her to give her a bath. The meds & baths helped get her fever down. She also had a rash over her entire body. When it got into her diaper area, a nurse suggested running wipes under warm water before wiping her, even unscented/gentle ones. It's better than a warm washcloth (which we used to use b/c we didn't want the wipes to sting the rash). Best of luck. My heart goes out to you and your child ~ it's horrible when a child is sick.
H.

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Hi K.
My daughter had Roseola last July, she would have been 19 months old at the time. She had an extremely high fever 103.5 for a whole day and had vomited once. I took her to the doctor and the doctor could not find any source of infection, it must be a virus and we had to just let it run it's course. She told me to give her either tyenol or motrin whatever I preferred, which I did. She still had quit the fever even with motrin. Two days of fever and then the fever broke and she got the Roseola rash, but acted better than the days before when she had the fever. It cleared up on its own in about three to four days. Yes she was fussy but nothing too awfully bad. Good Luck, hope this helps.

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Hello K.,

Yes and she will continue to be that way til she starts to feel better. My daughter Jennifer had Roseola at 8 months old, she is now 17 years old. She had it so bad, and they didn't know what it was til her fever broke and the rash came out. I was reading the other comments and was shocked that their kids temps weren't as high as my Jenni's. We were REALLY panicked when she had it. I was out with my husband and Jenni and her sisters were at the sitters house. We got a call to go the hospital because Jeni had a seizure and quit breathing.
When we got there she was screaming, and what had happened is her fever went really high all at once and threw her into a febral seizure. Jennifer's temp was 105.4 for three days, then finally broke to 103. It was scary!

Good luck and no worries she will come around :)

T.

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My daughter had it several weeks ago. She was really fussy as well. I think for me the hardest part was making sure she stayed hydrated beacuse her appetite was gone till her fever broke. Good Luck! It does get better I swear

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Yes our daughter had it in the fall. She was up w/ extremely high fevers, screaming all night and day. And we could not put her down or she would cry so hard she would hyperventilate.

The good news. Once the rash showed up she got better very quickly. And was back to being her usual happy self.

Good luck

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