Epidemiological study in roseola infantum in Babylon

Roseola is a mild febrile exanthematous illness occurring almost exclusively during infancy. Among the many alternative names for the disease are exanthem subitum (indicating the sudden and surprising appearance of the rash), the rose rash of infants and pseudo-rubella. Human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) is the etiological agent of roseola infantum. The aim of this study is to predict the disease early by the time of high incidence of this disease, the common age of presentation and the commonest clinical findings. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Babylon Teaching Hospital for Maternity and Children in Babylon city for 12 months, from the 1st March 2009 to the 1st February 2010. The study involved 48 cases of roseola who visited the outpatient clinic which were followed up for 3 days (22 cases were admitted to hospital and 26 cases were reevaluated after a second visit). In the result of this study we found roseola was highest in infants with age group 10-12 months. The cases in urban area is more than rural area, it occur more in the period from April to June. There was no significant sex predominance in the incidence of the disease. The most common clinical finding were occipital lymph node enlargement in all cases (100%) and cervical lymph node enlargement in (89.6 %) infants.