Prognosis | Three-day fever in a baby – is that dangerous?

Prognosis

The prognosis for a baby suffering from three-day fever is very good.Usually the disease runs off harmlessly and disappears spontaneously after a short time, so that the baby recovers quickly. Often there are attenuated forms of the disease that the parents do not notice. The febrile convulsions also do not leave any damage. Only very rarely do complications occur.

How contagious is the three-day fever?

The three-day fever (exanthema subitum) is highly infectious. The viruses, (HHV-6 and HHV-7), which belong to the herpes virus family, are transmitted from person to person by droplet infection. Droplet infection means that the viruses can be transmitted to another person by sneezing, coughing or even talking and kissing.

One can hardly protect oneself from an infection, since there is neither a vaccination nor other prophylactic medication. Especially when the children are in kindergarten or elementary school, one can no longer protect them from infection, since children put everything in their mouths and are very close to each other when playing. Adults in particular often have coughs when they suffer from the disease and can thus spread the viruses very easily.

Once you have the viruses in your body, they remain there for a lifetime and you are always protected. The fact that the pathogens remain in the body for a lifetime also has a disadvantage. You can still infect your fellow men years later.

This is also the reason why children are repeatedly infected by their mothers, without the latter having acute symptoms of illness. However, even if the disease is easily transmitted, it is not necessary to isolate the children. Nevertheless, there are certain points that should be observed. One should refrain from contact with pregnant women, and one should also keep oneself or the children away from people whose immune system is very poor, for example, through chemotherapy or other diseases.

Rash of three-day fever

The rash of the three-day fever has a typical appearance. It appears immediately after the fever and is first seen in the abdomen, neck and chest area. They are very small red spots, which cover the skin extensively.

But sometimes they grow into each other. Normally this rash does not itch and does not cause pain. However, children often complain about the opposite.

In the course of the disease the rash often spreads to the rest of the body, but usually the face remains free of the red spots. The rash is slightly raised, which means that you can feel it when you stroke it with your hand or finger. This is also sometimes the reason why children can scratch it and sometimes even leave slight scars.

However, the rash is completely harmless, even though it may look different. There is no need to take any special medication because it usually disappears by itself. However, if it itches or hurts, there are special creams and tinctures.