ABSTRACT
Features of toxic shock syndrome include a high fever, vomiting, abdominal pain, severe muscle ache and headache, profuse watery diarrhoea and rash with rapid progression to severe shock and end organ dysfunction. It is due to the toxic shock syndrome toxin-1 produced by Staphylococcus aureus. Staphylococcal scalded skin syndrome is caused by exotoxin-producing S. aureus. The toxin causes an erythematous rash and separation of the dermis beneath the granular cell layer, with bullae formation and sheet-like desquamation. In a child presenting with fever, the presence of purpura is highly predictive of meningococcal disease and should be treated as an emergency. Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura is a benign self-limiting illness often preceded by a viral upper respiratory tract infection. Henoch–Schonlein purpura is diffuse, self-limiting immunoglobulin A-mediated vasculitis affecting small vessels and capillaries. The rash initially starts on the scalp and trunk and spreads centrifugally.
