Urgent help - amoxicillin rash

[weepingwillow22]

I am really confused what to do. My 7 month old developed a fever on wednesday. It was still 39.5 by saturday so I took him to the out of hours gp who looked in his mouth and diagnosed toncillitus. He prescribed antibiotics to treat. I didn't question at the time whether it was viral or antibacterial.

DS started the antibiotics on saturday and his temperature came down within hours to tge 36-37 range. He has still be upset though and I put this down to tummy issues with explosive nappies due to the antibiotics.

After his third dose of antibiotics though we noticed a rash. It is mainly a blotchy one on the top of his scalp under his hair but there are about 5 small raised spots on his chest and back too which may or may not be relates.

We phoned 111 tonight and spoke to a nurse who advised us to stop the antibiotics and said it was probably a viral rash and we shouldn't have been giving them in the first place.

I am now very confused what to do as I thought it was bad to stop a course part way through and the original doctor must have suspected a bacterial cause to have prescribed them. I am worried that if it is a rash associated with strep throat it could be dangerous to stop them but at the same time I dont want to risk an allergic reaction.

My DS is due his next dose at 2am. I am tempted not to give this one and phone 111 back in the morning as the gp is still closed tomorrow. What do people think? The problem is 111 is so slow in replying and I get a different answer whenver I call.

Sorry I can't be more helpful but I know how stressful it is with a baby in these situations so I'll post from my experiences (3DS two of them pretty much adults).

DS1 had the amoxicillin rash last week for the first time (at the precious age of 20. Years.). He went to the GP himself because obviously me taking him would just be weird now. He had the rash right at the end of antibiotics - although he did allude to the bad tummy as well earlier on. From what I can tell he was to finish the dose but also look our for signs of allergic reaction although this was unlikely as it was so late in the course. He got given steroid cream (didn't do much) and antihistamine tablets and it all started to go down very quickly. In my experience with my babies the post viral rash was just that - something that happened once the illness had run it's course.

I'm not sure what to do in your case, try and get an out of ours GP to at least talk to tomorrow. I'd be torn about the next dose of antibiotics, knowing from experience that 3-4am is the time you question everything and doubt yourself the most! You need to weigh up if you think there's an allergy to how much difference missing one dose of the antibiotic would be. You can always give it a bit later as dawn comes up and the world seems a bit less scary. Definitely give the out of hours a call in the morning ASAP and clear things up, write down what you want to ask before you call them.

Did 111 get you to do the glass test on the rash? If the rash stays red under a tumbler then it's a flag for immediate medical attention.

Aside from that, at around 12m old I discovered dd was allergic to amoxicillin. 1st dose no reaction, 2nd and 3rd dose I noticed she was rubbing her hands together after taking it, 4th dose same with the hands then her feet also went bright red, 5th dose quite an alarming widespread rash at which point it was obvious that it was a reaction to the amoxicillin and stopped it.

Allergic reactions do tend to get progressively worse with each exposure so do keep a very close eye if you choose to continue.

Thanks both. Yes I did the glass test and it is not meningitis. Just gave him his night feed and he seems comfortable. Rash is no worse. Will hold off decision until spoken with 111 in morning.

@INeedNewShoes Can I ask when you stopped the amoxicillin did you switch dd to snother antibiotic? I was surprised the nurse didnt suggest this but she was very skeptical they were needed in the first place. I felt they were doing something though as DS's temperature reduced afrer taking them although it may have just have been a coincidence.