EPIDEMIOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF EARLY DETECTION OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES PRESENTING WITH EXANTHEM IN CHILDREN

Infectious diseases accompanied by exanthem remain one of the most common  reasons for paediatric consultations and an important source of outbreaks in preschool and  school collectives. Several of them – measles, rubella, varicella, scarlet fever and  meningococcal infection – combine high communicability or high lethality with the fact that  the patient is infectious before the rash appears or before the diagnosis is confirmed. This  narrative review, based on international guidelines and peer-reviewed publications,  summarises the epidemiological characteristics of the main exanthematous infections of  childhood and substantiates why detection at the prodromal or earliest rash stage changes  the course of an epidemic process.