Roseola Infantum - Another Harry Potter spell!

Last week Ryan came down with on and off fever averaging between 37.8 C to 39.9 C for a three days. With the H1N1 issue around, we were quite worried as the normal fever medicine seemed to able to just bring it down for a couple of hours. However, a comforting thought was that he was active as ever and did not have a runny nose.

On the third day when the fever still refused to break and we noticed that his eyes a little puffy, we brought him to see his favourite `uncle' , his doctor. One look, and my dear friend uttered another word akin to a Harry Potter spell - ROSEOLA INFANTUM! We were like OK...errrrr...what kinda of a spell is this???

So, we were taken on a whirlwind 5 minutes medical lesson.

Roseola Infantum is a viral infection that usually infects children of between 6 months to 24 months. (How lucky we must be. Ryan is now 22 months!) It is known to be caused most commonly by a virus known as human herpevirus 6 (HHV-6). It is a mild viral infection which can be mildly infectious.

Symptoms include 3 to 4 days of relatively high fever. Other symptoms include puffy eyes, swollen glands in the front or back of neck, bulging `soft spot' at the head (fontanel) and mild diaahea. And just as the fever breaks on the 3rd of 4th day, red rashes which is not itchy will break out throughout the body and will finally subside only after 3 to 4 days. Apparently, this infection is often confused as `baby measles'.

No medicine is necessary except to control the fever to prevent it from going unnecessary high.

To eliminate the possibility of dengue, Ryan has to `donate' his blood for a blood test. He is definitley much much braver than his mommy. He did not make a single sound even when his finger was poked and a tiny syringe was inserted to draw the required amount of blood from his little finger. He was looking intently at his finger and at what the doctor was doing, curious I am sure. The moment it was completed with a plaster over his finger, he then turned to us with his recognisable frown and show us his wrapped up finger. As usual, he required a kiss on his tiny finger from both of us to assure him that everything was alright.

As informed, the rashes did come after fever went away and the rashes did subside after 2 days. As for Ryan, he had a good time showing his wrapped up finger to everyone including his kakak, asking for a kiss.

And we have just put another spell into our arsenal of Harry Potter spells that we have accumulated so far in our parenting journey....