Roseola - ola - ola

In one of my earlier blogs a couple of weeks ago, I reported how Mayenne came down with high fever after her MMR jab, and I was certain then that it was her reaction to the vaccine.

She had high fever >38.5 degrees over about 4 days (with her temperature occasionally easing to the 37 degrees range before shooting up to > 38 degrees again). On Day 4, I couldn't allow my baby to suffer anymore, we rushed to KK Child A&E even before the dawn breaks, as she was very hot to the touch and her throat was so sore that she couldn't even drink her milk.

Fortunately, the A&E was not crowded and Mayenne was attended by the doctor on duty. They took some blood from Mayenne for testing and the results were all negative except for a hint of viral infection. So the doctor sent us home and asked us to continue to give her the medication we got from the GPs we saw a few days before.

It was as though the trip to the A&E has zapped all her viruses away, cos by the end of the day, Mayenne was less lethargic and her appetite got better. I thank God for that and was relieved to see her recover from her sore throat and runny nose.

Before I could even say "She's okay now!", my mum called me to tell me that Mayenne started having tiny red spots on her back, legs, sole and face. Without any delay, I told Mum to bring her to the GP for a quick check. They came back with the diagnosis: heat rash and gave us calamine lotion.

What heat rash??!?! Those few days leading to the day the rashes were spotted were filled with rain and more rain, so the weather was extremely cool. And given a layman like me, I was very sure those are not heat rashes.

Good thing was the rashes were not itchy and they don't seem to bother Mayenne at all (no fever, diarrhoea, nausea etc). So then I inferred that it could be measles as some literature explained that some babies catch it, as the MMR vaccine is putting small doses of live viruses into the body so that the body can build its immunity against these viruses.

In view that Mayenne was behaving normally, I didn't worry that much. Slowly the rashes faded and totally cleared within 3 days.

It was only after sharing Mayenne's symptoms to a close friend of mine that what Mayenne had could be Roseola. Symptons include high fever for a couple of days, coupled with sore throat and runny nose. After the fever has subsided, the spots will appear, usually non-itchy. If you need more information on Roseola, you can refer to this website: http://pediatrics.about.com/cs/commoninfections/a/roseola.htm

Everything that Mayenne went through fit the description - she had Roseola. This is probably what the old folks refer to as "fake measles".

Mystery solved.