Friday 9 August 2013

Viral Infections In Children...

Viral infections in children are incredibly common.
In the 2 years of Leo's life he has managed to pick up 3 to date.
Before having Leo, I actually had no idea what a Viral Infection was? 
I didn't know that it would be one of the worst things that Leo would experience as a baby, and as a toddler.

In the May of 2012, just shy of his first birthday Leo was diagnosed with Roseola.
A viral infection that kept us both up all night.


'Roseola is a viral illness in young children. It most commonly affects babies and toddlers aged between 6 months and 2 years old. It is usually marked by several days of high fever, followed by a distinctive rash just as the fever breaks.

A child with roseola typically develops a mild upper respiratory illness, followed by a high fever (often over 39.5°C) for up to a week. During this time, the child may appear fussy or irritable and may have a decreased appetite and swollen lymph nodes.

The high fever often ends abruptly, and at about the same time a pinkish-red flat or raised rash appears and spreads over the body. The rash's spots turn white when you touch them, and individual spots may have a lighter "halo" around them. The rash usually spreads to the neck, face, arms, and legs.'

Leo had been incredibly grumpy and not himself.
But with that infection behind us, 
I didn't think he would come down with it again...

But I was wrong.
Very wrong..

Roseola can strike more than once.

On August 7th Leo was not 100%,
not in that last hour before bedtime anyway.

He was burning up like a radiator, and hot to the touch.
He was clingy and whinging but still got put to bed just like he always does,
and for a little while that is where he stayed.

By the end of the evening Leo had already navigated his way to my bed,
very quickly forming the starfish position leaving me nowhere to get comfy.
It was a night full of disturbed sleep,
a wakeful toddler wanting reassurance and Cars 2 on the iPad.

We had big plans for the following morning. 
Plans were forming and being cancelled in the wake of the night 
Leo and I had been subjected too.

As the day progressed Leo became more under the weather.
To accompany his temperature, a very familiar spotty rash was 
spreading all over his back and tummy.
A rash that looked very familiar to the Roseola rash he had been sporting once upon a time.
Then everything else began to add up.

- He had been off his food
- He had a runny nose
- He wasn't sleeping
- He had a temperature
- He now had a rash...

My little boy was fighting off the bane of viral infections.
Roseola... For a second time.


Last night there was not a lot of sleep to be had. 
Sleep became a distant memory,
memories from yesteryear crept back.
People wanted to make sure I had thought to do the glass test on the rash.
People were telling me it was everything but a viral infection,
Told me to take him to the doctor.

I failed to see the point in going back to the doctor. 
I had a very good idea what it was. I knew what I needed to do. 
I knew that the doctor would check his temperature, 
give him a once over and send us on our way with the merry words
'it's viral...Just keep doing what you are doing'.

I had to try and keep the fluids going into him, keep an eye on the rash. 
Give him all the cuddles and love I could muster where he would allow it, 
and finally try and keep him dosed up on calpol. 
Calpol has to be the hardest bit of it.
Leo will not allow calpol, So I have to try and sneak it into his milk. 
With this virus though he has been completely off his milk, 
which is not something that happens to Leo very often. 
That alone is enough to set alarm bells ringing for me.

I did call the doctor though, and she talked through Leo's symptoms with me and told me that she completely agreed. It was most likely Roseola and just to carry on doing what I was doing, and if I felt the situation escalated then to give them a call back.

Roseola is such a horrid virus, 
it has reduced Leo to screaming for over an hour on two occasions today.
It seems to shake his very being and it is horrible seeing your toddler affected so deeply. 
There have been moments in the thick of this virus where Leo has shone through as brightly as ever,
and even through my sleepy haze I can muster a smile for that beautiful boy of mine.

It has been a hard two days, but I think we are coming out of the other side of this awful infection now, so hopefully a sense of normality will resume tonight. Or else I will be kicking myself for writing this and not getting an early night as planned..

Through the black smog of Roseola here are a few things that have brought a smile to my poorly boys face..











2 comments:

  1. Oh viruses are grim and I hope he gets better very soon. It seems that you've only had 3 to deal with but they've been hardcore ones - lots of love to you all

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Viruses are the very bane of my life. Thank you x

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