It's not Rubella, so what can it be?

He is better now Luckygirl, it wasn't until Friday that the rash had nearly cleared, he looks quite thin now though.

Ooh, I've just remembered that we thought DD3 had meningitis because she had a rash and kept being sick. We kept dosing her up with calpol giving her more and more as she kept being sick. My lovely gp called on her way home and told us to stop giving her calpol - she got better really quickly after that!

Casting my mind back over the decades my children had something called Roseola Infantum which had a rash and unwell symptoms.

That looks exactly like the all over body rash my DH had recently Faye. It puzzled the doctor until he asked whether he had been taking any Ibruprofen based medicine lately. DH has had a shocking cold and we were wrongly associating the rash and the cold as "one" when in fact the rash was as a result of taking the medicine for the cold. Dr said that some people are highly allergic to Ibruprofen. He stopped taking them and the rash disappeared after a few days. he still has the nasty cold though.

Mine didn't have blisters with HFMD.

DD2 had rubella about 5 times until I insisted we had a blood test done which proved that it wasn't and nor had she ever had it. It turned out she was allergic to something or another in tinned tuna or fish fingers.

Is he getting better?

It could be anno, the symptoms fit, red cheeks, headaches, vomiting, fever, the rash and no appetite. I am pretty sure he had a sore throat to begin with. I don't know if he had spots on his tongue as I was away most of the time he was sick. DD said the rash was in his mouth.

It is unfortunate the doctor didn't test for anything else besides Rubella.

I suppose they ruled out scarlet fever?

As you say Faye you will probably never know, and some illnesses throw out atypical symptoms too.

Just pleased to hear your little one is on the mend. I think glandular fever is one of those illnesses that often gives out mis-readings. Heard of several cases where it took two, or more, tests to get a positive result.

Thank you all for your information. DD said the doctor dismissed HFMD because the rash was all over GS's body and not just hands, feet and mouth. Also it was a rash and not blisters.

I don't think it is pityriasis-rosea because the rash besides being all over him was on his hands and feet and not just in batches and has lasted over two weeks and not longer.

I think we won't ever know now, I would have leant more to HFMD, but because the rash wasn't blisters and the doctor said no it wasn't HFMD. Though the doctor who diagnosed it as Rubella was wrong from the results of the blood test.

Some blood tests can be off though, DD1 had Glandular Fever at age seventeen. The blood test came back as negative even though the doctor said she had all the symptoms. Months later because she still was unwell she had another blood test and the results were - she had had Glandular Fever.

Years ago one of mine had pityriasis-rosea ( I asked the GP to write it down as I'd never heard of it!), that's how I remember the rash looking although I don't remember her being particularly unwell with it. Glad your little GS is mending now.

It looks like hand, foot and mouth to me too. They are usually better after a few days

www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/tc/pityriasis-rosea-topic-overview

My first thought was hand foot and mouth but something else comes to mind that my grandson had called and I ve got to look it up but something like Rossaeca it starts with a primary spot but can make them unwell for quite a while five or six weeks I ll come back with some info in a min

Hand, foot and mouth, which I have heard of only recently when one of my grandchildren was struck down, sounds a possibility. Faye try googling that.

Poor little chap, could it be 'hand foot and mouth'?