Rash and Sore on 4yr old

[saysha100687]

My 4yr old son has been sick for the last week with a fever, cough, congestion, joint pain, ringing in his ears, and now a rash on his face and sore on his arm. I noticed last week that his cheeks were flushed but I figured it was from the fever but now that the fever is gone, the rash on his face noticable. The rash looks like little bumps but all together in a bright red circle with some of the little red bumps are on his nose and lips. The rash is also dry and flaky. Then last night he started crying that his arm hurt and I noticed a little brown spot on it so I circled it to keep an eye on it. By the time he went to bed (3 hrs later) the brown spot had turned red and swollen to about twice its size, so I circled it again and decided to check on it in the morning. In the moring I checked his arm, the swelling went down but it is still a little larger than it was in the first place but now it looks more like a sore with a thin clear scab over it.

I am taking him to his doctor today to look at but was curious what other may think.

I should note that two weeks ago he was vaccinated for H1N1, seasonal flu, hepatitis, and pneumonia.

I do not believe that it was caused by the vaccines because the little girl (who is also four) I watch during the day has now become sick. She has no rash or sore, but has the congestion, fever, and cough.

[Dragon477]

wow,sounds like chicken pocks.When i had them when i was little,
i was hot,buring,achey..with thoes welts.
please update us ans tell us what they are.

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
From the symptoms it looks like Fifth disease. It is caused by a virus (parvovirus B19). This disease tends to occur in the winter and spring but can occur year-round. The disease can cause a low-grade fever, headache, sore throat before the appearance of rash. The earliest specific sign of the disease is often bright red cheeks thus called slapped cheeks disease. Sometimes the child may have sore joints with the rash.

I would suggest you to get your child evaluated from a dermatologist/pediatrician and get other viral infections ruled out.

It is very difficult to precisely confirm a diagnosis without examination and investigations and the answer is based on the medical information provided. For exact diagnosis, you are requested to consult your dermatologist. I sincerely hope that helps. Take care and please do keep me posted on how you are doing.

[saysha100687]

Thanks for the imput. He was vaccinated for chicken pox a while ago, but the doctor said he just had a cold and he did not think that the rash was related to his sickness. His doctor told me to take pictures of the rash and if it got worse or did not get better within a few weeks to bring him back and he would send me to a specialist. His cough, congestion, fever, and joint pains are gone but he still has the rash.