Prodromal

PRODROMAL, prodrome (from Greek prodromos - running forward, precursor), the period of precursors or symptoms preceding a disease, observed mainly in the initial period of infectious diseases or, more accurately, at the end of the incubation period. In the prodromal stage of various diseases, typical phenomena are sometimes observed that make it possible to make a preliminary diagnosis. Thus, in measles, the prodromal stage can be characterized as a period of catarrhal phenomena with transient temperature elevation and a sharp, typical cough, as well as the appearance of Koplik's enanthema preceding the measles exanthema (see Measles). In scarlet fever, the prodromal period is significantly shorter (a day), and it should include the initial vomiting, temperature elevation, and sometimes enanthema and convulsions, after which the patient may again appear visibly healthy for 12-24 hours. In most infectious diseases, however, the prodromal stage is characterized by less typical but still clearly expressed disease symptoms - these include feelings of lassitude, headache, pain in the sacrum and extremities, chills, poor sleep, and sometimes excitement (typhoid and typhus fever, etc.).