Viral Rash and high temp - despite calpol, nurophen. Rash has spread and face now looking a little puffy

[endofanera]

Hi. DD age 4. Has been poorly since tuesday. She has neuro probs so always a little anxious when she gets ill. She developed a sudden rash last night. We saw GP who said viral rash. But, this eve it has spread to face and feet. It now covers her whole body. Its Red and angry looking with lots of little pin pick bumps and her fever is not really going down. Last check it was 38.6. She has MASSIVE tonsils anyway, they have been huge for 2 years and we are seeing ENT in March. She has a paroxsymal movement disorder diagnosis.
Just wondering if there is anything we can do or do we just sit it out and keep an eye? Or should we be pushing for antibotic's, test to determine what virus?
Apologies if i sound over anxious. DD has been very poorly in the past and she is my only child so dont have much experiance.
Thanks in advance

Yep call OOH GP as soon as possible. Insist DD gets seen this evening.

I'm with painty and mushy. Hope she gets better soon.

Another vote for the OOH

Have done just that
Turns out she has scarlet fever, pus on tonsills and fluid in her ear She is really poorly bless her. We have got some penicillin for her, so will see how tonight pans out. If temp still not going down then A&E.

Oh bless her, I hope she's feeling lots better in the morning :)

Thankyou thankyou Keeping a close eye on her tonight. Must admit the rash is awful looking. Scarlet Fever never even crosssed my mind! Apparently its quite common this time of year. DD is very vulnerable to strep infections.

Hi Painty. She is still poorly. Temp at its highest last night was 41.3 It has come down again now. She is keeping a little fluid down but cant eat anything. Her face look horrendous.

41.3 is dangerously high, I'd be tempted to call for advice again.

Temp has not risen at all today Although, dd was like this yesterday then in the eve it shot up. She will have been on the penicillin almost 24 hours by this eve so if temp shoots up again i will take her straight to A&E. I didnt realise Scarlet fever was a notifiable disease. DD nursery has had to email all the parents and i fear dd is the start of an epidemic??
Her tounge is now looking awful and rash still there and equally awful. Strep infections seem pretty dangerous and as dd has neuro probs (poss caused by previous strep infection) my anxiety levels are high and feel very worried and hyper alert to anything. Thankyou guys for the support!!

I had scarlet fever aged 7 and still remember it! Also had big tonsils, quinseys fever etc, and was off school 3 weeks 'quarantined'. Keep fluids going even if she isn't up to eating, I lived off ice poles and lollies which cooled the mouth and throat when it hurts to swallow and eat. I used to have dissolvable analgesia (like solpadine but not sure what you could use for under 12's) which has the advantage that you can gargle with it then swallow it, calpol is so thick it's inclined to stick to your throat and make you retch which hurts so thinning it down might work. Hope she is feeling better soon!

Thankyou Sobby x
Funny enough my mum says she remembers having it too, in 1957! I just had a call from GP who says expect a call from the health protection agency Also, advised if temp goes up again to go straight to hospital. I am stunned by all this!

oh hope she gets better soon how worrying for you...ice pops sound like a good idea.

Hope she's feeling a bit better today.

Well done for getting onto it and well done the doctors for diagnosing it quickly. My daughter had scarlet fever age 3, 8 years ago now, only it wasn't diagnosed for a week, when she'd progressed to septicaemia and I'd taken her to hospital. Long story short she remains on prophylactic penicillin till she's adult but has been happy and healthy since. I think there were two other cases at her nursery at the time. (nb I missed it myself despite having medical and some paediatric training)

For reference - our GPs discussed what had happened and the biggest pointer to the diagnosis was that viral rashes (with a few exceptions) tend to improve within a day or 2, hers didn't but kept on developing.

Hope everything is settling nicely for you; if you've ended up with in hospital for IV antibiotics then my sympathys and best wishes for rapid recovery!

Thankyou Guys. DD is doing much better today, temp is normal and rash is not looking as bad. I am sooo relieved the second GP we saw diagnoised it straight away!!
Really sorry to hear what happened to your daughter Python. I had no idea at all, it could lead to such dangerous complications.
I am still watching DD like a hawk in case of secondry complications but i am hopeful she is out of the woods now. The playgroup sent an email to everyone but listed the first symptom as a runny nose, with no mention of sore throat. I sent a response saying its sore throat and strep infection, but not sure they listened, the reply was as they got the info from a nurse, it must be correct
Its such a nasty virus, i hope non of the other kids that dd has been in contact with get it.
DD is responding well to the anti biotics but from the research i have done, it can take a while for her to be 100% in the clear, although she is no longer contagious. Any info re scarlet fever and what to look for in the following days would be really appreciated!
Again thankyou so much for the support on this post. It was due to you guys that i sort help that led to quick diagnosis. Thankyou from the bottom of my heart ( i hope that doesnt sound to soppy!)

Thanks Painty
I wish some of the UK paeds would follow the Spanish Paeds mantra!