Childhood exanthems
From IDWiki
Disease | Season | Rash | Associated Findings |
---|---|---|---|
measles | winter to spring | erythematous, confluent, maculopapular rash, starting at the hairline and descending | Koplik spot, high fever, 3 C's of cough, coryza, and conjunctivitis, and Forchheimer spots |
scarlet fever | fall to spring | generalized erythematous rash with sandpaper texture, starting on the face and upper trunk, and descending | Pastia lines, Forchheimer spots, strawberry tongue, exudative pharyngitis, abdominal pain, rheumatic fever |
rubella | late winter and early spring | rose-pink, maculopapular rash, descending | lymphadenopathy, arthralgias, Forchheimer spots |
parvovirus B19 | winter and spring | slapped cheek rash on face and lacy reticular rash on extremities | rash waxes and wanes over weeks, arthritis, aplastic crisis |
roseola | spring | rose-pink, maculopapular rash on the neck and trunk | lymphadenopathy, febrile seizures, Nagayama spots |
varicella | late winter and early spring | vesicles on an erythematous base with crusting, starting on the face and trunk and spreading outwards | pruritis |
hand-foot-mouth disease | late summer or early fall | elliptical vesicles on an erythematous base, involving oral mucosa and palms and soles | vesicles on hands and feet and inside the mouth |
Numbered Childhood Exanthems
- First disease: measles
- Second disease: scarlet fever, caused by group A Streptococcus
- Third disease: rubella or German measles
- Fourth disease: "Duke's disease"; may or may not exist; possibly staphylococcal scalded skin syndrome
- Fifth disease: erythema infectiosum, caused by parvovirus B19
- Sixth disease: roseola infantum, caused by human herpesvirus 6 or 7
Further Reading
- First to seventh diseases: discarded diagnoses? BMJ. 2015;351:h3525.