All about rashes

Symptoms

• The disease usually begins with a low-grade fever, malaise and headache.
• These symptoms are followed by the characteristic rash on a red base.
• The first spots are flat, red and about 2mm across. Within hours, though, they become vesicles (small sacs) filled with clear fluid. Within a day, the rash progresses through a pustular phase and then becomes crusted and dry.
• A highly characteristic feature of chicken pox is that all the different stages of the lesions may be found at the same time on the child's body.
• The eruption generally begins on the chest, back and face and continues to spread for three to five days.
• As most people who have had the infection know, this rash is extremely itchy and uncomfortable.

Treatment

• Treatment goals include alleviating itch, controlling fever and preventing secondary bacterial skin infections.
• Aveeno baths, calamine lotion and various antihistamines - all available over the counter from a dispensing chemist - are helpful in controlling the itchiness.
• Your child's nails should be kept short so as to avoid scratching the lesions, especially those on the face, which can scar.
• Paracetamol may be used for fever control and the overall aches and pains.