[Importance of the confirmatory diagnosis in viral exanthematic diseases in Zulia State, Venezuela: a review of the problem].

A great variety of viruses which cause exanthema share other clinical manifestations, making etiologic identification relying exclusively on clinical examination a very difficult task. The most common agents include the measles virus, rubella, dengue, varicella, cytomegalovirus, Epstein Barr, enteroviruses, human parvovirus B19 and type 6 human Herpes virus. The fact that most these diseases are self limited represents an important challenge to the development of clinical and epidemiological resources, identification of new infectious agents, monitor changes in their behavior, and to evaluate the impact of immunization on the modification of viral disease with cutaneous manifestations that are considered along whit classical exanthematic pathology, and specially the macullopapular type. In spite the fact that viral exanthematic diseases are common in Zulia state, several difficulties are encountered in order to determine a precise etiologic diagnosis. Even though some are fairly benign and self limited, some represent an important risk to certain age groups, gravid and immunocompromized patients, since they can progress to more serious processes. Therefore it is of great importance to ascertain the etiological diagnosis that might be implicated with viral exanthematic diseases in order to guarantee an adequate treatment and to establish the required measures for disease control.