Roseola: Ron Christian Neil T. Rodriguez, MD First Year Pediatrics Resident
Roseola: Ron Christian Neil T. Rodriguez, MD First Year Pediatrics Resident
Roseola: Ron Christian Neil T. Rodriguez, MD First Year Pediatrics Resident
History and PE can diagnose roseola and can differentiate it from other, more serious,
disorders that causes rashes
Three day history of high fever, blanching maculopapular rashes on the trunk
Viral culture is the gold standard to document viral replication EXPENSIVE
Alternatives: PCR on acellular fluids or reverse transcriptase PCR on peripheral blood
mononuclear cells
Diagnosis
Rubeola/Measles
Cough, coryza, conjunctivitis, high grade fever are coincident with the appearance of rash
Rubella
Mild illness to low grade fever, sore throat, arthralgia, GI complaints
Scarlet fever
Rare in patients children younger than 2 years old, and gives a characteristic sandpaper like rash
concurrent with fever
Enteroviral infection
Drug hypersensitivity
Differential Diagnosis
Enteroviral infection
May be confused as roseola as these are common in the summer and fall months
Drug hypersensitivity
Can be mistaken as roseola especially if antibiotics have been started to children with fever before
the appearance of rash
Complications
Supportive management
Maintain hydration
Antipyretics if febrile
For routine cases, specific antiviral therapy is not recommended
For complicated cases such as PALE or encephalitis, ganciclovir, foscarnet, and cidofovir have
been shown to have inhibitory activity to HHV-6 in vitro
Ganciclovir or Foscarnet can serve as first-line drugs for patients with PALE, given with a
minimal duration of 3 weeks
Prognosis