A skin eruption occurring as a symptom of an acute viral or coccal disease, as in scarlet fever or measles. SYN: exanthem. [G. efflorescence, an eruption, fr. anthos, flower]
- Boston e. a viral disease resembling e. subitum, with the e., if it develops, appearing after the fever has subsided; it is caused by strain 16 of ECHO virus. [after the city in which an epidemic occurred]
- keratoid e. a symptom occurring in the secondary stage of yaws : patches of fine, light colored, furfuraceous desquamation, scattered irregularly over limbs and trunk.
- e. subitum a disease of infants and young children caused by herpesvirus-6, marked by sudden onset with fever lasting several days (sometimes with convulsions) and followed by a fine macular (sometimes maculopapular) rash that appears within a few hours to a day after the fever has subsided. SYN: Dukes disease, fourth disease, pseudorubella, roseola infantilis, roseola infantum, sixth disease.
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ex·an·the·ma (eg″zan-theґmə) pl. exanthemas, exanthemґata [Gr. exanthēma] exanthem.Medical dictionary. 2011.