About 2 weeks ago my husband, 2 1/2 year old son and I moved back to California from Florida. A few days after we got here, my son broke out with a small rash on his belly. I noticed it but didnt think much of it, thought it was maybe an allergy to something and gave him some Benadryl. 2 days later, the rash had spread from his belly to his whole body...head to toe..including genitals. I continued the Benadryl and tried some hydrocortisone cream. When I put the cream on, he flipped out!! Said it was burning his back, he was scareaming, crying and twitching. The next day I took him to the doctor who upon eyeing the rash, said he thought it was scarlet fever. He did a strep test and that came back negative so he said it couldnt be scarlet fever. He told me it was just a rash and would go away, to continue the Benadryl and get some Aveeno bath stuff for the itching. Well, its been almost a week since then and the rash is still there..all over. They are small, light red bumps from his head to his toes. Does anyone have any clue what this might be? My poor baby's skin feels like sand paper!! He doesnt seem to have any other symptoms, other than a runny nose and a slight cough at night..but hes had that for longer than the rash. Im stumped as to what this might be. Doc ruled out eczema, scabies, etc. Any suggestions/ideas would be appreaciated. thanks! -Andrea

Hi it sounds like a rash my husband just got over, the doctor said it was either from stress (his father was real sick) or something he ate (chinese food from a roach coach/caterer truck) the aveeno baths and benadryl helped, but when it still wasen't getting better after 2 weeks the doctor put him on antibiotics and it helped, was better looking within a few days and almost totally gone within a week, if it still looks bad in a couple of days i would call the doctor again. I cant think of the name of the antibiotics they used but I know they are real powerful and also a steroid.....
oh one more thing, my husband also used the baby's "nurishing milk lotion by johnsons" he said that it felt better then any other creams and he didn't care if he smelt like a baby.
hope this helps

Yes, It can be scarlet fever. Scarlet fever usually shows up after the person has already had strep throat. And those rapid strep tests the doctors use have a high rate of false negatives. My doctor always follows up with a throat culture. My son had scarlet fever with absolutely no sign of having had strep throat. And it was definitely the sandpaper rash you are describing.