Measles - my child has got it

[musicmusic]

Hi, I am pretty sure it measles - rush inside the mouth, body, itchiness, high temperature, sore throat. i am panicking - today GP appointment or shall I ask to refer me to the paediatrician? thanks.

The doctor will be able to deal with it

They will swab him and send it off to confirm measles (or not)

Tell the doctors what you think it is so they can give you an isolated waiting area.

Agree that the GP will be able to deal with it, but you must ask for an isolated waiting area or a home visit. If it was me I would push for the latter.

Yes push for a GP home visit. It will be ok, try not to panic. You need to keep it quite dark in the room that's one of the things I remember...

There is no need to panic. Ring your surgery and tell the receptionist. You may be asked to attend somewhere else as they don't want to spread infection.

Ours got measles on a Saturday and after a phone call, we went to the emergency GP clinic at the local hospital, where lots of interested staff wanted to view as they had never seen a case before.

They will send a swab off to confirm diagnosis - be prepared for a phone call as well (from health authority as I recall?) to interrogate you as to where the kid may have caught it and persuade you to vaccinate kids with MMR.

As far as treatment is concerned.... You need to use stuff to bring the temperature down as for any febrile illness (paracetemol). The rash is uncomfortable but use calomine lotion. My kids didn't have any side effects, but I got up every two hours in the night to check on them. I think some people get eye problems which is where the dark room bit comes from.

BTW both me and DD felt ill mildly ill for a couple of weeks afterwards - we both had measles as children, so perhaps exposure triggered our immume systems.

When DS got it (just before he was due his MMR ), we were at my mother's so we took him to a walk-in at the hospital. It was just at the time when parents had started to worry about giving the MMR.

I don't remember keeping him in the dark (although we did keep him indoors) but we did use calamine lotion and prescribed calpol to keep his temp down. He was quite unwell for a couple of days and then much better after that. Luckily DD didn't catch it as she had had the MMR and both DH and I had it as children.

Music, how old is your DC? Try not to worry. The majority of children make a full recovery from measles. DH and I and all our siblings had it when we were younger with no complications. Plenty of rest and fluids and lots of cuddles. The darkened room is because they can sometimes be sensitive to light. I would also push for a home visit. Apart from not wanting to drag a poorly child to a doctor I'm sure they don't want measles in their waiting room!

There are quite a few MNers whose children have had measles and/or have had it themselves so hopefully they will be along shortly to help reassure you.

How did you get on Music?

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It was not mmr - just a nasty virus. thank you for supportive comments x