Skin rash in children

Introduction

When parents suddenly observe a rash in their children, they are usually very worried. In most cases, however, harmless childhood diseases or allergic reactions to certain environmental stimuli are hidden behind the skin changes. If the rash persists for a long time or if the child develops clear symptoms of illness, such as high fever, a medical examination is always advisable. In most cases, the doctor can easily determine the underlying disease by examining the rash in combination with other symptoms of the child’s disease. The following are possible causes that could be behind your child’s skin rash.

Childhood diseases

• Chickenpox: One of the best known diseases, which typically occurs in childhood, is the so-called chickenpox (varicella). These are caused by the varicella zoster virus. The disease manifests itself as a rash in the form of itchy blisters and red spots that are spread all over the body.

  Over the course of several days, the blisters dry out and become crusty, until they finally disappear completely after a few weeks.

• Measles: Measles also typically occurs in childhood and is accompanied by a typical skin rash. Unlike chickenpox, the rash does not itch in measles, and it does not consist of vesicles, but of red-violet spots that run into each other. The rash starts behind the ears and on the face and spreads from there over the whole body.

  In parallel, there are sometimes bright spots on the mucous membrane of the mouth (Koplik spots). The rash usually disappears after four to five days.

• Scarlet: Scarlet is characterized by a bright red, smooth tongue, the so-called raspberry tongue. In addition, there may be a skin rash in the form of light red spots, which can appear all over the body.

  Scarlet fever typically causes a rash in the chest area. Subsequently, scaling of the skin may occur in the areas where the rash previously existed. However, this is not dangerous and is a step in the normal course of the disease.

• Rubella: Rubella also causes a skin rash, but this is often not as easy to see as with other childhood diseases.

  The rash starts in the head and face area and consists of very light red, maximum lenticular spots, which can be sharply distinguished from each other. In the course of time it spreads to the whole body. Because the spots are very bright, small and often very isolated, the rash can easily be overlooked.

• Ringel rubella: Ringel rubella is a viral disease.

  It is also colloquially known as slap in the face disease, because about two weeks after infection, the children develop clearly reddened and slightly swollen cheeks. The mouth area is spared from the redness. In addition, the skin is overheated and can itch.

  In the course of the infection, spotty, red rashes eventually develop all over the body, preferably on the outside of the arms and legs. These rashes can be ring-shaped or garland-shaped, which gives the disease its name. It is not untypical that the rash disappears in the meantime and reappears later.

• Three-day fever: Three-day fever is a viral disease that occurs primarily in small children and is characterized by sudden onset of fever that lasts for three to four days.

  Afterwards, a small spotty red skin rash appears just as suddenly, especially on the chest, stomach and back. It spreads within a few hours and disappears just as quickly after about three days. Itching usually does not exist. In rare cases, the rash may also spread to the arms and legs and to the head.