Unwell 7yo

[WeAreSix]

DD has been unwell since Friday, so this is day 6. She's got a fever, reduces to 38 with paracetamol / ibuprofen. Other symptoms are viral rash, lethargy, loss of appetite, sore throat, headache, tummy ache, cough / runny nose.

We've seen GP 3 times. All agree that there's no focal point for infection; everything clear on examination. No urine infection.

I'm worried that we still haven't turned the corner and seeing an improvement. She looks awful - the rash is so bad she looks sunburnt. I'm pushing fluids but she's still only able to take sips, and has passed urine only twice today and its still quite concentrated. GP yesterday considered admitting her for fluids but we managed to get enough in her to avoid admission.

What else can I do?!

Have I missed something glaringly obvious that's making her so poorly? Or is this just a really awful virus that won't go away?

have you tried stopping the paracetamol etc and let the fever do its job and clear the virus?
If your dd is in pain this might be too hard but just a thought.

Hope she's feeling better soon.

I would agree with Mckenzie and let the temp bump of the infection. I do think there are q lot of horrid nasties around though. My DCs seem to take ages at the mo. to get over things.

I've reduced the amount of ibuprofen I'm giving her, just paracetamol today but she's struggling without it.

She's complained of worsening tummy ache this afternoon so I've phoned our surgery and the duty doctor is calling back.

This reminds me of having glandular fever. Poor poppet, seems so unfair when they're this unwell :(

What's her tongue like? I'm thinking scarlet fever?

Back from GP.

Not tonsillitis, glandular fever, scarlet fever or measles. Although she was perplexed by the rash - she's spotty all over but it changes and she's completely red at times, like sunburn. Her face is red apart from her nose & around her mouth

Ear is red so given antibiotics for that. Throat swabbed.

So, back home and pushing fluids loads. Still feel helpless.

Thank you for the replies.

Sounds like Scarlet Fever to me. This comes from the NHS website:

Symptoms of scarlet fever

Symptoms of scarlet fever generally take one to four days to appear after infection.
The illness often starts with a sore throat or skin infection and fever. The rash appears 12 to 48 hours after the fever.
Rash

Red blotches are the first sign of the rash. These turn into a fine pink-red rash that feels like sandpaper to touch and looks like sunburn.
The rash may start in one place but soon spreads to many other parts of the body. It commonly affects the ears, neck, chest, elbows, inner thighs and groin.
The rash does not normally spread to the face. However, the cheeks become flushed and the area just around the mouth stays quite pale. The rash will turn white if you press a glass on it.
The rash lasts for six days, then usually fades from the top of the body downwards. It usually disappears within a week. The rash may be itchy and usually occurs alongside other symptoms (see below). In milder cases, sometimes called scarlatina, the rash may be the only symptom.
Other symptoms

Other symptoms may include:
headache
swollen neck glands
loss of appetite
nausea or vomiting
stomach pain
broken blood vessels in the folds of the body, such as the armpit, which cause red streaks that may last a couple of days after the rash has gone (these are known as pastia lines)
a white coating on the tongue, which peels a few days later leaving the tongue red and swollen (this is known as strawberry tongue)
a general feeling of being unwell

There have been a number of outbreaks. GPs are not always good at recognising these illnesses. Maybe take her to A&E?

It does sound like scarlet fever, as other poster said. There's three cases of it at DS' school. Did GP do a blood test?

Yes that does fit fairly well. Although the GPs we've seen have all said it isn't.

No blood tests done. They've all concluded viral, keep going with fluids.

You can't always rely on GPs to get the diagnosis right unfortunately. I found that A&E doctors are often a lot better.