Enteroviruses can cause specific skin manifestations in babies. A rash with an enterovirus infection has its own specific characteristics. This article will help parents recognize this condition in their child and distinguish it from other diseases that are also accompanied by the development of rashes.
What does it look like?
A child can get sick with an enterovirus infection very easily. Viruses are rapidly spreading by airborne droplets from a sick baby to a healthy one. After the end of the incubation period, the infected child begins to show specific symptoms of this infection.
Doctors may also call these loose elements enterovirus exanthema. This condition develops in all babies with this infection. The severity of symptoms in this pathological condition is different. It largely depends on the child's age, as well as the initial state of his health and the presence of concomitant diseases of internal organs.
In most cases, this clinical sign occurs 1-3 days after the normalization of body temperature. Localization of skin rashes is very different. Loose elements appear on the baby's neck, back, face, arms and legs. Such rashes appear as bright red spots... The size of these formations is usually 2-4 mm.
It is important to note that characteristic enteroviral rashes can also appear on mucous membranes. They usually cover the tongue, the inner surfaces of the cheeks, and the upper palate. If the course of the disease is more severe, then such rashes can also spread to the oropharynx and pharynx.
Parents can notice these rashes on their own at home. To do this, they should carefully examine the pharynx of a sick child using an ordinary teaspoon. If the parents found out that the baby had some kind of rash on the mucous membranes, then it should be shown to the attending physician. You cannot hesitate with this, since the development of the disease is usually rapid.
Some clinical types of enteroviral exanthema are accompanied by the development of multiple small vesicles or blisters on the body. There is a serous or bloody fluid inside such rashes. It can flow out of the bubbles when they are traumatized. Any mechanical stress can lead to this state. After the fluid has expired, a bleeding sore appears at the site of the former bubble.
For the healing of the skin from the rash and epithelialization of the mucous membranes damaged by enterovirus infection, sufficient time is required. They usually recover completely in 7-10 days.
For the fastest healing of damaged mucous membranes in the oral cavity, it is very important to follow a gentle diet. Such nutrition completely eliminates any solid food that can cause additional damage to the child.
Associated symptoms
Specific rashes are not the only clinical sign that develops with enterovirus infection. This infectious disease is accompanied by the appearance in a sick child of a whole complex of adverse symptoms, which significantly worsen his general well-being. These manifestations are growing rapidly, within several days from the end of the incubation period. It should be noted that infants tolerate enterovirus infection somewhat harder than older children.
Once in a child's body and starting their active reproduction, enteroviruses lead to the development of a strong inflammatory process. It is manifested by the appearance of an intoxication syndrome in a child. A sick baby's body temperature rises rapidly. Its values may be different and depend on the severity of the disease. Severe forms of the disease may even be accompanied by an increase in body temperature up to 38-39 degrees.
The general state of health of a sick child is significantly impaired. He has increased anxiety, drowsiness, decreased appetite and difficulty falling asleep. Babies may refuse to breastfeed. Severe intoxication syndrome is accompanied by the development of headache and severe weakness. A sick baby tries to spend more time in his crib, and playing with his favorite toys does not give him any pleasure and joy at this time.
Loose stools are also a common symptom of this infection. The severe course of the disease is accompanied by frequent trips to the toilet. This leads to increased dehydration. Your toddler may also experience tummy soreness that is independent of food intake. The severity of the pain syndrome is very intense.
A sick baby often develops vomiting. It can occur not only after eating, but also against the background of a headache. The use of antipyretics significantly improves the overall well-being of the child and reduces the feeling of constant nausea that develops in a sick baby.
Muscle pains can develop in a child as early as 2-3 days after the development of the disease. The predominant localization of such a pain syndrome is the arms and legs of the baby, the back and the upper half of the body.
Quite often, muscle soreness is paroxysmal. The duration of such an attack can last from a couple of minutes to several hours.
Differences from other diseases
To establish the correct diagnosis, doctors must conduct additional examinations. They are necessary to exclude all diseases that develop with similar symptoms. Various laboratory tests help doctors in conducting differential diagnostics. They also make it possible to identify the severity of functional disorders that have arisen in the child's body as a result of this disease.
Enterovirus infection quite often resembles the flu. Sick babies also feel "weakness", muscle pain, their body temperature rises. An important difference between influenza and enterovirus infection is its seasonal nature and mass distribution.
For accurate differential diagnosis, it is necessary to carry out special serological tests that will accurately identify the causative agents of the disease.
Herpetic infection - also one of the pathologies that can occur with the development of specific skin rashes on the child's skin. Herpes viruses are quite selective. Their "favorite" localization is mucous membranes. It should be noted that they are also capable of causing damage to the skin. But this is rare in babies.
The course of herpes infection is usually long. This disease is accompanied by a change in periods of complete well-being and exacerbations, when specific rashes appear on the mucous membranes and skin. It should be noted that remission can be quite long. A pronounced decrease in immunity leads to the development of rashes.
Mass outbreaks of herpes infections usually do not occur. Enteroviral infections, on the contrary, develop more often in children in crowded groups. Enteroviruses cause more severe symptoms than herpes viruses. This determines the main difference between these pathologies. Enterovirus infection is accompanied by a more rapid onset of adverse symptoms.
It is possible to distinguish chickenpox from enterovirus infection mainly by the combination of symptoms. Chickenpox is quite rare in a child by the appearance of soreness in his tummy. Stool abnormalities for chickenpox are also uncommon. Loose elements in chickenpox are usually more extensive on the body. They can cover almost all skin surfaces.
Rubella measles can also occur with the appearance of various rashes on the clean skin of the child. It can be easily confused with a skin rash caused by an enterovirus infection. Collecting anamnesis helps to establish the correct diagnosis. If a preschool child does not have measles vaccinations, and skin rashes are of a generalized (widespread) nature, then this most likely indicates that he is sick with measles.
Differential diagnosis of enterovirus infection is also carried out with different allergies. Allergic diseases, accompanied by the appearance of various rashes on the baby's skin, develop only when allergens enter the child's body. Such pathologies occur in babies who have an increased sensitivity to some substances or food.
If the child has only rashes, but there is no high fever and other symptoms of intoxication, then this indicates that he has developed a certain allergic pathology, and not an enterovirus infection.
For how enterovirus infection manifests itself in children, see the next video.
