Rose'ola

Rose'ola, or ROSE-RASH, is a name sometimes applied to the milder varieties of Erythema (q.v.), where the eruption consists merely of a reddening of the skin, with little or no swelling. Such an eruption sometimes occurs as an early symptom in smallpox, and during the stage of reaction in cholera; it is also one of the commonest of syphilitic eruptions. But it frequently appears independently of any such disease, and is then usually an indication of some slight disorder of digestion, or of some other internal source of irritation. It usually subsides in the course of two or three days at most, and causes very little constitutional disturbance. Occasionally it is attended by slight fever and sore throat, and may then be extremely difficult to distinguish from a mild case of scarlet fever. No treatment is usually required, but a mild saline laxative (e.g. a seidlitz powder) may be administered with advantage.