Name that Pox?

[Poppet45]

So my DS (15 months) might have chicken pox, or it might be hand, foot and mouth, or even an unspecified viral rash, but our really helpful GP says he can't be sure but to have a week's quarantine just in case and it's driving me mad not knowing which it is!!
Can any dear mumsnetters put us out of our misery, or indeed reassure me whether it makes any odds to know or not?
Here's the symptoms. He's been miserable for a week, lost his appetite and been really tricky to nurse but he's also got two molars on the brink just to complicate matters. He has little red bubble like spots with a paler centre, about 2 to 5mm wide, and while they are itchy (he manages to open his babygrow at night to get to them) they don't seem to bother him much at all by day. We were calpolling him at the start of the week but haven't had to give him anything since the rash appeared as he's perked up, although he's still not quite himself.
Finally the rash itself. It is very light. I'd say he has about 50 spots in total and they are on his bum, the palms of his hands and on the fingers, and on his knees and feet, including the soles. There might be some in his mouth too but he's not sharing!
The GP said we'd have to wait and see and he'd be happy to see him again, but we've had no more spots since the last appointment on Friday and if anything he seems to be getting better. Would we be wasting the GPs time to make another appointment just to get a definite diagnosis? Does it matter knowing what it is?

If a trained doctor who has seen the rash is unable to diagnose, then I doubt you'll get much joy here.

If you're concerned about a diagnosis, then take him back as GP suggests.

Watching thread - chicken pox doing the rounds at preschool, DD has some spots but don't want to leap to conclusions. May keep her off school tomorrow anyway because two of the other mums are pregnant.

chicken pox

hand foot and mouth

p s i am concerned that doctor doesn't know one rash from another

Hand, foot and nouth doesn't scab over...that's the major difference. It just sort of goes away.

From the locations I'd go with HFM.

Me too Mrspear! He said it was too small to be chickenpox but couldn't be the hand foot and mouth rash because those spots are flat not blisters... which appears to be nonsense. To be honest it looks like most of the hand foot and mouth pics, but only some of the chicken pox ones so I'm plumping for HFM too. Darn, I'd hoped he'd had chicken pox and been a real trooper about it. Although that would be very unlike him.

DS recently had hand foot and mouth with definite blisters. My GP was pretty clueless and said it could be chickenpox or a nonspecific viral rash.

Google and MN led my to a diagnoisi of HF&M, when I went back to the doctor a few weeks later dor soething else she prodly announced that she now knew what DS had had - HF&M

It sounds like HF&M from the location of the spots, my son has had it twice (deep joy) but didn't have to stay off nursery until the spots disappeared which took more than a week, just until any that had blistered dried up. He only had a couple that were blisters which dried up in a few days and then he was out and about.

I dont' think you need to go back to your GP if he is getting better - they won't do anything anyway.

If DS is improving and the rash was not easily identifiable initially I cant see the point of returning to the GP. I would quanrantine for the set time. The only reason to be concerned about the actual cause of the rash is if it can harm pregnant women, but if quarantined this shouldnt be an issue.

I would guess hand foot and mouth.....thought of getting a new gp?