Non fading rash.

[ThanksForAllTheFish]

DD 9 was diagnosed with scarlet fever last Tuesday (for the second time) currently on antibiotics and has been very much back to her old self the past few days.

So she got out her shower tonight with a red ‘pin prick’ rash on the tops of her legs. I asked if she’d been scratching the area but no. I’ve done the glass test and they are not fading at all. She is other wise fine in herself - but of a cough but that’s it. Temperature is normal. No sickness etc.

She did have a touch of diarrhoea the other day but I put that down to taking her antibiotics too soon after eating more than anything else.

She’s happily in her bed now. Waiting for me to go in and tuck her in for the night. DH thinks I’m worried over nothing. I’m kind of leaning towards her being fine but at the same time I can’t help but worry. Non fading rash isn’t good and the fact she has just had a bacterial infection makes me worry even more. At the moment I’m 50/50 about it all.

So if anyone is still up can I ask what you would genuinely do in this situation please? Would you take an otherwise fine kid to A&E or wait it out for a few hours, keep checking in on her for more symptoms etc. I know if I ring 111 they will send us in just to be safe.

I’ve put up a photo of the rash if that helps.

I'd either go to A&E or phone 111, non-fading rashes aren't to be ignored.

I would assume a reaction to the antibiotics but you should probably see a gp to be sure

What antibiotic is it? Does it say rash as side effect on leaflet?

I would check for side effects first

If otherwise healthy and no other symptoms at all I would check regularly on her in the night and phone gp first thing tomorrow.

To reassure myself I would probably take temp and heart rate regularly.

Ringing 111 is never wrong though if you are unsure.

Is the rash bumpy? It looks bumpy in the picture. Bumpy would reassure me.

But if she's well in herself, I wouldn't take her to A&E.

I think the rash is a late feature of meningitis, and you would have other symptoms, esp in a 9 yr old who can tell you what's going on.

I get pin prick rashes from clothes that press against the skin, so at the top of my arms if I wear a smart jacket. Or from rubbing my face. So she didn't get a whack or run into something?

Her antibiotics are : Phenoxymethylpenicillin (penicillin v)

She’s had them before and been fine in the past, we did have to get the sugar version this thing however as the pharmacy was out of the sugar free version. Perhaps it is a reaction. I’ll go check the leaflet now.

I monitoring her closely just now. Rash appears to be the same as before - it’s not spreading. Temperature is still normal. Breathing fine. I’m hoping she stays ok. She was really keen to get back to school tomorrow as she missed all last week. Not looking likely now though.

I’m not sure how long she has had the rash. She’s at that age where she likes privacy and it was her that noticed it tonight in the shower. It could have been there for a couple of days and we’ve just not noticed it. I was only really looking at her chest and back earlier in the week as that’s where the scarlet fever rash appeared.

I’m still in two minds about taking her to A&E. I know it will be busy as it’s the weekend. She isn’t really unwell as such so I get the feeling they would just send us home and we would be told to monitor her for other symptoms. On the other hand I won’t be able to sleep a wink tonight for worrying about her anyway so I might as well take her. DH is quite grumpy about the prospect of going. He’s very much in the everything is fine and I’m over reacting camp. He had no idea what a rash that doesn’t fade is significant and had never heard of the glass test before (well apparently as I know I’ve done the glass test loads of times in the past and he’s watched me do it!)

Rash isn’t bumpy at all. Just feels like normal skin.

Sorry, also should have agreed with pp who said that allergy to antibiotic might be a reason. So don't give her another dose until you've spoken to a Dr I think. Unless she did clobber herself earlier!

Don't know where you are, but here you might get sent to the out of hour GP if you rang 111, where you would at least have an appointment, and avoid the general horror of A&E.

She swears she has bumped herself in anything. She’s super sensitive to clothing labels and seams so all her clothes are really soft and she would let me know, in no uncertain terms, if something was rubbing her or irritating her legs.

I asked if she had been scratching the area as it has that sort of look to it, but she said no. Her skin did have the slightly mottled look to it earlier when she came out the shower but she is very pale and often looks like that, particularly if she is cold (I’m the exact same). The only other thing I can think of that could possibly be related is that she’s been drinking more water than usual the last few days. Again I was just putting it down to the antibiotics making her thirsty as I know some medication can do that.

I’ve checked the side effects leaflet and it just says ‘skin rash’ but no details on the type of rash unfortunately.

Hmm I think call 111 now - I just googled scarlet fever and it says if diarrhea you should see a dr.
That and the drinking more water are symptoms to me. So I would call and say non blanching rash, diarrhea and drinking more

She’s asleep now but I’m considering bringing her into my bed tonight so I can monitor her better.

DH has gone to bed already, he’s not worried about it in the slightest.

I think my plan is to keep an eye on if for now, if it spreads or she develops any other symptoms then I’ll take her to A&E. I will hold off on any more of her medication until I can speak to the dr - hopefully tomorrow morning. I don’t see her being back at school tomorrow now unless she wakes up and the rash is gone.

I’m glad to see other people wouldn’t necessarily rush to A&E with a 9 year old showing no other symptoms. My main worry is more for septicaemia at the moment rather than meningitis. It’s a very, very rare side effect of scarlet fever apparently. I know that septicaemia can come after meningitis and the two often go hand in hand but you can get both separate of each other.

I’m kind of hoping now it’s just the medication causing the rash and nothing more sinister.

I'd call 111, even if it means a long trip to A&E.

Any update OP? I wonder if the infection she had has caused her platelets to drop. Check inside her mouth for bloodspots. My son had itp (autoimmune over reaction causing spleen to destroy platelets) a while back. He had petichial rash on his legs but well in himself. DS had virtually no platelets so he had spontaneous bruising as well but your DD may be more mildly affected?
Look up itp online (immune thrombocytopenic purpura).

Update. Took her to the Dr yesterday morning. Dr wasn’t to concerned that it was anything serious as she was otherwise ok in herself. She called the hospital to check if they wanted her in to check it out and they said yes.

Took her to the children’s A&E with letter from Dr in hand. Took about 5 hours in total but she got a blood test, urine test etc and all came back fine. Platelets were fine (which was my biggest concern as she’s the type of child who picks up bugs easily and is very small for her age so I’ve always had the possibility of issues with her immune system in the back of my mind). Her blood clot test was 1 higher than the lab range - it should be between 4 and 13 but her was 14. Not enough to be concerned about so that’s fine.

Hospital think the rash might be the after effect of a virus, as the dr initially didn’t take a swab test for the scarlet fever they can’t tell if the scarlet fever was actually a virus with similar symptoms or not. There is also the possibility she had scarlet fever and an additional virus at the same time (she did have a cold the week before the scarlet fever so that is a good possibility).

She’s back to school today right as rain. She’s also back on the antibiotics as it’s not a reaction to them so no issues with her continuing the course. I got a chance to chat with another mum who’s DS in in DDs class and he was off the week before DD with scarlet fever also and another 2 children in her class have been off with it too apparently so it was going around.