Scarlet fever?

[CaptainCallisto]

DS2 is four and has had cold/flu type symptoms for eight days. I know there are a lot of nasty viruses out there at the moment (half the reception class have been off for two or three days) so have just been treating him as I would for a cold and keeping an eye on him.

He's just spilled his drink all over himself and when I stripped him off to change him I noticed a blotchy rash. Mostly on his legs and arms. It rang 'I've seen this before' bells so I looked up scarlet fever and the rash looks like a mild version of that.

BUT other than the fever he doesn't have any of the other symptoms. Is it likely it could be prickly heat from having a temp? Or a viral rash?

OOH provision locally is appalling at the best of times and there are roadworks at the moment that mean it's likely to take at least an hour to get to the hospital that does it. At the moment his temperature is controlled (regular paracetamol) and he seems no worse than he has been.

My instincts are telling me to stay at home and keep an eye on him. Does that sound reasonable? I should add that there's an A&E at the hospital 15 minutes away, but they closed the minor injuries/out of hours unit last year...

firstly does it blanch?

secondly scarlet fever rash feels sandpapery does it feel like that? If it is scarlet fever it will need treatment

Blotchy rash and cold sounds like slapped cheek. Scarlet fever affects tongue , sore throat and is a rough rash.

It does blanch, yes. It's quite hard to tell re. the sandpaper thing as DS has eczema and rough/dry skin anyway. It does feel tougher on those bits though...

*rougher

Don't think it's slapped cheek LIZ as his face is about the only place he didn't have it. He's asleep at the mo but I'll have another look when he wakes up.

Has he got swollen glands and a sore throat

His glands aren't noticeably swollen but he been complaining of a sore throat. His tongue looks fine though. I think I might wait until DH gets home at sixish (depends on the bloody roadworks!) and give them a call...

DD had scarlet fever last year. The rash was definitely sandpapery and concentrated in folds, eg in her groin. She also had a ‘strawberry’ tongue

www.nhs.uk/conditions/scarlet-fever/

My ds and dd had something very similar sounding a few weeks ago. Ds has a particularly pronounced rash all over legs and torso accompanied by a high fever. Interestingly his rash seemed to itch in places.

I thought scarlet fever too because be brother mentioned that his dc school had an outbreak. I don't think it was scarlet fever though. The gps ended up giving antibiotics because his ear was also infected.

Just checked his temp as he's woken up and it's gone up again. He's definitely getting worse so I've called 111 and they've given us an appt for half seven. Hopefully DH will make it home in time to stay here with DS1, though I'll probably end up passing his bus in the roadworks...

Thanks for all the replies!

That's interesting Screamer - it sounds almost exactly like DS2.

My youngest has been known to have quite a bad rash at end of a virus.
But take no chances........

Just back from the hospital. He's apparently got a very nasty viral infection that's been doing the rounds. The doctor said he'd seen two other children today with almost identical symptoms, and a few more over the past couple of weeks. It seems to be lasting 10-12 days so hopefully we're getting towards the end of it