Clinical Case 032: making rash decisions….
This girl has a history of a few days of fever, cough and irritability. She has in the past 24 hours developed this impressive rash that covers her face, arms and legs. The lesions are slightly raised and blanch easily. They are not particularly itchy. This is a spot diagnosis:
Pattern recognition is key in this scenario – it can make the difference between a quick, confident diagnosis with appropriate reassurance and a prolonged, stressful and often unnecessary series of investigations.
Mycoplasma pneumonia
Drugs: anticonvulsants, sulfurs, NSAIDs, penicillins, anti-retrovirals
There is the smallest chance that the child may develop Stevens-Johnson syndrome or toxic epidermal necrolysis [though some expers feel they are not the same disease]. I tend to opt for reassurance – as the most likely outcome is benign, annoying rash which goes away – “but return if worse”.
This rash can take a month or more to disappear – so warn the parents. And it can recur – repeatedly.
Clinical Case 083: Itchy britches
Medical myth : Give Max with your Morph?
Audit of the Killer Stethoscopes
About The Author
Casey Parker
I am a GP working in Broome, NW of Western Australia. I work as a hospital DMO (District Med Officer) doing Emergency, Anaesthestics, some Obstetrics and a lot of miscellaneous primary care. Also on the web as @broomedocs | + Casey Parker | Contact