DS2's torso completely covered in spots

[MarathonFan]

His SATs start tomorrow!!

It's not the small pin pricks of heat rash but largish (3-5mm) red blotches. They don't itch and he doesn't feel unwell but he is completely covered front and back. Nothing to worry about, right??

Have you done a glass test on them - do they fade when pressed?

Has he had chickenpox?

I would call the school first thing and ask if he can sit them in isolation explaining he has a rash but it otherwise well but you don't know what it is and it may be contagious.

And try and get an app with nurse/gp.

Have you googled to see if you can identify the rash?

If he misses the SATS due to illness he can sit them at a later date? But tbh SATS don't matter in the long run anyway.

Yes, they do Mrs M. Sorry should have said that's the first thing I did!

Ok - I agree it could be chicken pox but if it's all over front and back torso ONLY then my guess would be it's an allergy to something. Washing powder formulation etc can change without you knowing.
I took dd2 to A&E last year with an unexplained reaction - blotches all over and swollen feet! We have no idea what it was. It was the first day she'd worn her new school shoes but nothing else had changed. I put it down to weird pollen thing in the end.

Has he had a sore throat recently ?

Could it be hives? This has happened to both DH and dd1 in the past.

Do you have an antihistamine he can take and see how he is in an hour or two?

No he hasn't been ill at all - I've had a terrible cold so it wouldn't be a surprise if he was about to go down with something but no sign so far (apart from the spots). He's just been in to show me they've spread to the tops of his feet! Nothing on his legs so far though.

He had a bit of very mild eczema as a tot but generally speaking has a cast iron constitution and isn't prone to rashes/reactions

Hives I found very frightening because they appeared out of nowhere and spread like mad.

That does sound like dd. I would get an antihistamine in to him and monitor him closely.

I would do antihistamine now and dr in the morning unless he starts to feel unwell- then I'd ring NHS direct.
Regarding the sats - they really have no bearing on his future-just the schools! Secondary school do their own tests and set according to those at some point in the first year.

My two had scarlet fever and it started on the torso. Google scarlet fever to look at images, mine then got a sore throat and cold. I believe it is contagious before the spots come out.

I don't have any antihistamine but think I'll send DH out for some. It's not something we ever have need of in this house TBH. Can't remember the last time anyone had an allergic reaction.

It does look a bit like the images for Scarlet Fever but he doesn't have/hasn't had any of the other symptoms.

I caught scarlet fever and only had the rash at first, then came down with tonsillitis and flu like symptoms 3 days later, so definitely a possibility!

My dd had a rash like that with bubble bath, she also gets foul rashes when she has had a virus.

YY to antihistamine.
How's it looking now?

It's worse this morning. He has spots all over his penis and surrounding area and his hands and feet but still not arms or legs.

I called 111 and they said he's probably OK but to see a doctor ASAP - "probably" fine to go to school. So, I took him in and they're going to have (his favourite ) teacher sit with him in quarantine while he does today's SATs test. He's expected to do a bit better than average, so there was no question that he should stay!!

I'm going to collect him at 10:30 but GP couldn't offer me an appointment until tomorrow afternoon, which means we'll be in the same boat tomorrow. I only need to know if he's contagious (for the benefit of others) I'm quite happy that he's Ok, as he's well in himself. Was it very unreasonable of me to have taken an emergency appointment so he can be seen this afternoon?

I think a spreading rash is an emergency if an emergency is defined as this afternoon -it's not like you've called an ambulance -my doctors tend to treat most child appointments as 'emergencies' eg ear infection/rash/temperature- really don't worry about that.
Hope he continues to feel ok and you get an answer this afternoon.

One of my children once had this:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pityriasis_rosea

It was a rash that covered her torso, but not face, arms or legs.

We saw the health visitor (no doctor appt available), who was puzzled and called in the duty doctor who was puzzled, until I mentioned that she had had a rough red patch, the size of an old 50p, for a couple of weeks, then he realised what it was.

There appears to be no definite cause and it is not contagious. I was told it was something teenagers usually get (my dd was 4).

ps - dd did not look like the pictures, she was absolutely covered in small red spots.

Hope he's ok.

Doctor was fine about me having an emergency appointment, it was the receptionist who has an issue with it.

Anyway it's apparently a viral rash and not contagious so as long as he doesn't get any other symptoms he's fine to go to school. If he get's other symptoms I'm to take him straight back on an emergency appointment

Not sure how it can be a virus and not contagious but I'm not going to think too hard about that.

Oh good news! And how sweet that his favourite teacher sat with him, he will remember that forever!