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Roseola
Introduction
Roseola is a generally mild infection that usually affects children between 6 months and 3 years of age, though it occasionally affects adults. It's extremely common — so common, in fact, that most children have been infected by roseola by the time they enter kindergarten.
Two common strains of the herpes virus cause roseola. The condition typically causes several days of fever, followed by a rash.
Some children develop only a very mild case of roseola and never show any clear indication of illness, while others experience the full range of signs and symptoms. The infection can occur at any time of the year.
Roseola typically isn't serious. Rarely, complications from a very high fever can result. Treatment of roseola includes bed rest, fluids and medications to reduce fever.
Signs and Symptoms
If your child is exposed to someone with roseola and becomes infected with the virus, it generally takes a week or two for signs and symptoms of infection to appear — if they appear at all. It's possible to become infected with roseola but have signs and symptoms too mild to be readily noticeable. Signs and symptoms may include:
- Fever. Roseola typically starts with a sudden, high fever — often greater than 103 F. Some children may also have a slightly sore throat or a runny nose along with or preceding the fever. Your child may also develop swollen glands in his or her neck along with the fever. The fever lasts for three to seven days.
- Rash. Once the fever subsides, a rash typically appears — but not always. The rash consists of many small pink spots or patches. These spots are generally flat, but some may be raised. There may be a white ring around some of the spots. The rash usually starts on the chest, back and abdomen and then spreads to the neck and arms. It may or may not reach the legs and face. The rash, which isn't itchy or uncomfortable, can last from several hours to several days before fading.
Other signs and symptoms of roseola may include: Causes
The most common cause of roseola is the human herpes virus 6 (HHV6), but the cause also can be another herpes virus — human herpes virus 7 (HHV7). These herpes viruses are related to, but different from, those that cause cold sores and genital herpes.
Like other viral illnesses, such as a common cold, roseola spreads from person to person through contact with an infected person's respiratory secretions or saliva. For example, a healthy child who shares a cup with a child who has roseola could contract the virus.
Roseola is contagious even if no rash is present. That means the condition can spread while an infected child has only a fever, even before it's clear that the child has roseola. Watch for signs of roseola if your child has interacted with another child who has the illness. Unlike chickenpox and other childhood viral illnesses that spread rapidly, roseola rarely results in a communitywide outbreak.
Treatment
Most children recover fully from roseola within a week of the onset of the fever. With your doctor's advice, you can give your child over-the-counter medications to reduce fever, such as acetaminophen (Tylenol, others) or ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, others). However, don't give aspirin to a child who has a viral illness because aspirin has been associated with the development of Reye's syndrome, which can be serious.
There's no specific treatment for roseola, although some doctors may prescribe the antiviral medication ganciclovir (Cytovene) to treat the infection in people with weakened immunity. Antibiotics aren't effective in treating viral illnesses, such as roseola.
Prevention
Because there's no vaccine to prevent roseola, the best you can do to prevent the spread of roseola is to avoid exposing your child to an infected child. If your child is sick with roseola, keep him or her home and away from other children until the fever has broken. Once the rash appears, the virus is much less contagious.
Most people have antibodies to roseola by the time they're of school age, making them immune to a second infection. Even so, if one household member contracts the virus, make sure that all family members wash their hands frequently to prevent spread of the virus to anyone who isn't immune.
Adults who never contracted roseola as children can become infected later in life, though the disease tends to be mild in healthy adults. The main concern is that infected adults can pass the virus on to children.
Information obtained from National Institute of Health