Fever with a rash?

my daughter is 11 and has had a fever for the past 3 days and has been vomiting. Today she developed a rash over her chest, back, face, arms and upper legs. I took her to Urgent care today and they put her on an IV to rehydrate her. They diagnosed her with gastroenteritis (tummy flu). I have been looking up symptoms on the internet and havent found anything on here about getting a rash with gastroenteritis and also she doesnt have diarrhea or stomach aches at all and that is the main symptoms of it. I dont think that is what she has. I think they didnt know so they just called it something. any ideas of what she might have?

A lot of things can cause a rash and fever. It is very difficult to tease out.

Things to think about:

is your child very sick? eg. high temperature (T 40 degrees C), very lethargic, having difficulty breathing, not eating or drinking combined with lethargy and a dry tongue and not making urine, etc

did your child get better with their treatment?

The very worst thing is the dreaded meningococcal disease - causes meningitis, pneumonia, septicaemia ... all these fevers ... and a classic rash that occurs usually when things are about to go downhill! This rash is called Purpura.

The other things that cause rash and fever together are:

viral illnesses (most common) - "viral exanthem" - classically a spotty red rash over body/arms/legs. It is common with many viral illnesses and can occur with a "tummy flu". As Just Ine Credible mentions above, a bunch of viruses cause rashes.

lupus - different sort of rash - usually "butterfly" rash over face or big blotchy red discs on body - joint pains - this is not an infection at all and requires different medications.

Then you have things like antibiotics causing rashes in a child with fever and it starts to get complex.

Bottom line: if your child is very sick (eg. difficulty breathing, very dehydrated with no prospect of getting fluids in, very very lethargic) bring your child to the Emergency Department. If your child is not so sick you can bring your child for review to your usual doctor and in many cases you can manage things at home with fluids (small amounts at a time but very frequently - say 50mL of water every 15 minutes) and paracetamol (acetaminophen). Try ice blocks, jellies, anything that is full of water and easy to digest or absorb.

Don't worry about the rash unless it is distressing the child eg. itchy or painful. Focus on the more important job of keeping your child alive and well hydrated so they can fight off whatever infection they have.

See the wiki pages and look at the pictures. See what fits best (there are a ton of links under Exanthem so you can see the different types of viral rashes).

SHE COULD HAVE MEASELS OR YELLOW JAUNDICE OR A NUMBER OF THINGD. I'M AGREEING WITH YOU I DON'T THINK ITS STOMACH FLU BECAUSE OF THE RASH.

It could be the stomach flu. And she could also have alergies. Or maybe both. There could be more than one illness affecting her.

It could be any number of infectious diseases. Mumps, Chicken pox, scarlet fever, Measles....

Go to a proper hospital, those Urgent care places are a sham!

Does your daughter have a regular doctor/pediatrician? If so, I would call their after hours number and have the doctor paged. If you don't, then consider taking her the emergency room. It may be nothing, but there are several serious conditions that involve a fever and rash. It's a good idea not to take any chances.

Good luck. :)

http://www.aboutkidshealth.ca/Article.as...

Actually gastroenteritis is used to cover many viruses and bugs that kids get that affect the stomach. Unfortunately for you, the dehydration means she probably should have been admitted to the hospital. Check out this article: http://parentcenter.babycenter.com/refca... It is geared towards younger children but it seems to have bearing on your case. They do not mention any type of rash, but that could be a secondary condition such as an allergy. Without an in depth description of the rash it is difficult to be sure. I would definitely advise you to get a second opinion as soon as possible. Good Luck