Baby Measles
Clearing Up Baby Measles
The term “baby measles,” is a confusing one that can easily mislead parents into worrying unnecessarily. Baby measles is not actually the same as measles. That is, if your child gets what people call measles, he or she does not actually have measles.
In fact, many of the names for the condition people call “baby measles” confuse matters for parents because they are either indefinite or could refer to other conditions. Therefore, for example, the term, “roseola,” which is often used in place of the more alarming “baby measles” is equally misleading since roseola can refer to any rash a baby receives not just the one associated with this particular condition. “Sixth disease” is also confusing unless you know that doctors have numbered the diseases in children that cause rashes. In addition, “three day fever” may also mislead since this is not always the length of the disease, and is definitely not the length of the symptoms involved.
Exanthema Subitum
Exanthema subitum is the technical name for this many named condition. (It just means “precipitous rash.”) This too is not a very descriptive term, but for the sake of consistency, we will stick to it from this point on.
E. Subitum’s Typical Presentation
A baby will typically get E. subitum between the ages of six months and two years. If symptoms are present (medical researchers believe that most children who get E. subitum show no clinical signs or such minor signs that parents don’t bother reporting them to their physicians), the pattern of disease usually goes like this. The child gets a high fever that lasts for a few days. Just as the fever seems to go away, the child will break into a bodily or a facial rash that lasts for a couple of days and then goes away.
That is usually the extent of the whole thing. Not much to worry about really.
Distinguishing Baby Measles from Real Measles
Real measles are on some rare occasions confused with this disease. If your child gets very high fever, it is a good idea to contact your doctor and bring your child in to have her condition looked at just in case it may actually turn out to be something serious.
Complications with Exenthema
Although the disease usually occurs in the mild form I described above, some children do experience some complications. For example, sometimes the child will suffer extreme prolonged fever and become “febrile,” that is, the child may start to have seizures. If this happens, you should definitely make an appointment to see your doctor.
Treatment
Because Exanthema subitum is such a mild condition, most physicians will just recommend that you manage your child’s fever, rather than try to treat the actual illness (which has no cure, by the way). Children’s ibuprofen tends to be the treatment du jour. However, be careful not to give the little one aspirin (it can cause Reyes Syndrome).
You need not worry about the rash. It may be unpleasant to look at, but you don’t really need to worry about spreading any creams or ointments on it. They will go away by themselves in due time.
Cause of Exanthema Subitum
Only recently, researchers discovered that a type of herpes virus (HHV 6 and HHV 7) causes Exanthema.
Final Thoughts
Although baby measles are nothing to worry too much about, you should always play it safe with your children. If your child gets a very high fever and you are worried, call you doctor and make an appointment so that you can sleep without too many worries. If however, it is very mild and you don’t really notice any other symptoms, you should probably be fine just dealing with the fever yourself.