Fifth Disease

[amberjack]

We are supposed to leave next weekend for WDW and my 3 year old has Fifth Disease. The spots started Sunday, so we are on day 5 now, not very spotty now but he still has the red "slapped" cheek look. By the time they break out in the rash, the contagious part is over so I know he won't be spreading it there, but I also read that heat can make the rash flare back up. Anybody's kids had this? How long did yours drag out? Every site I read gives a different time.

 

[loveysbydesign]

My daughter had this a few years ago. It only lasted about 2 weeks for her until the rash was all gone. At first we thought her cheeks were sunburned but then she got the other symptoms too.
Apparently I never had it as a child so I got it from her. Let me tell you that it was horrible! It is so much worse for adults than it is for children. I was so sick and got the arthritic joints from it...I got it so bad I was up at night crying in pain for almost 2 months. I had an almost 1 year old ds at the time and couldn't even carry him without being in terrible pain. I kept telling everyone that I felt like I was 90 with horrible arthritis and I was only 32 y.o. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.
I pray for your sake you've had it before!!!!!
I hope he feels better soon. Make sure to take a mister fan with you and fill it up with free cups of ice water from the counter service plase to help keep him cool!
A clip-on fan and sunshade would be great for the stroller too. You can get a fan at CVS for like $6.
have a great trip!

 

[mjkacmom]

I don't remember it even lasting a week - it was an easy one.

 

[mousefan1972]

My 4 year old has it now. The rash on his cheeks started last Friday (we knew what it was because his preschool had sent home a letter saying that 4 kids in the school had come down with it). In addition to the classic "slapped cheeks", he also has a rash on his arms, legs and torso. It doesn't seem to bother him, though. So tomorrow will be 1 week since the rash appeared and it is still there. I'm not sure about the heat making it worse. It hasn't been hot here since he's had it so I wouldn't know. Good luck and I hope you have a good trip!

 

[amberg@eastlink.ca]

ds got this last year rite before we left for disney! eek!!! i actually self dx'd him. but it just so happened everyone but me (the usual sick one) ended up with various ailments 2 days before we went and all of them ended up at a walkin clinic. docs looked at ds and i said is it slap cheek? yes in fact it was fifth disease they said. great, just great. but as you know, by the time symptoms show theyre no longer contageous, thank god! his appeared on a sunday, dx'd officially on the tuesday before our trip and we left thursday. it was gone in a few, but hard to notice as it was during the october heat wave last year. plus i think his two yr molars were coming in. but the heat didnt really seem to make it any worse. just looked like he was hot, a lot and he probably was.

 

[MyMagicKingdom]

Oh my goodness, I have this right now! My body aches so badly that it feels like my bones are non existent. My niece is at the tail end of it so I got it from her, DH has it too. DS started exhibiting a very runny nose, cough and drowsiness yesterday so I'm really hoping he just has a cold or something. I'm keeping an eye out for a rash and I'm REALLY hoping he doesn't get one. Its no fun taking care of a (nearly) two year old that has a cold when both parents have fifths. Ugh, I can't wait until this is over!!

OP, I hope you guys can enjoy your vacation without having to worry about the rash!

 

[ShellyLynn3630]

Oh, gosh we got this a good while back when the anthrax scares were going on and we had no idea what it was. Our daughter gave it to us and we felt awful. My husband made me call that anthrax number and ask them a bunch of questions. I felt sooooo stupid, but we were scared.

 

[amberjack]

Thanks everyone! He is acting fine... doesn't bother him a bit. I don't know if I have had it or not. If I did, it wasn't diagnosed. I had never even heard of it until a couple years ago. I think my oldest had a mild case of it when he was around 2 or 3 but we never got it confirmed. I am hoping so anyway...

 

[bearlyanne]

I think my dd has it too.. This am she had a rash, but night it had spread something awful (even diaper area?-is that common?). We are heading down in a week, so I hope that it doesn't get worse in heat. She is already very prone to looking like she was overheating since she is so fair. Strangers always stop tp yell at me that I have her out too long--when she does it natrually at 70 plus degrees-lol. I can't imagine how she will look even moreso!

 

[starsweeper]

Both my DC had 5th Disease around Easter. They got it from preschool. They were only ill for about a week, but they got DH, MIL, FIL, my mom, my brother, and me sick. Most of us were sick for at least 2 weeks. I remember feeling absolutely horrible the entire time. I couldn't eat normally for a week and a half.

The rash can reappear for 2-3 months according to medical sites I read, especially in spring/summer when temps are high.

 

[GlasgowRichard]

My son had it and didnt really have much in the way of symptoms. My wife and I got it and it was hell. Ill for two weeks and my bones were absolutely killing me. Never heard of it till then. It seems to be chronic in adults mostly.

 

[Kanga+2Roos]

Yes, I fell victim to it as well after my then DS2 passed it on to me! My ds got it the week before our summer family vacation & I broke out in a horrible rash our first day at King's Island. I honestly didn't connect the two & thought I was having a reaction to my sunscreen at first since the rash was so widespread. My worst symptom was the migrane headache that was tied to it (the two daycare providers got it as well & had the exact same symptoms). Make sure you have some Motrin handy in case you contract it! Our vacation was during the worst heatwave of the summer & my ds didn't have any issues with the heat one week after the rash first showed. I would be most concerned about yourself on the trip! Hopefully you had a mild case of it already & you'll luck out!

Good luck!

 

[POOHDRMR]

My dd got it the end of June-right before her pre-school graduation(she looked like a strawberry in her red cap and gown!)She only had a little runny nose and a fever for one day but the rash was very red for almost 2 weeks and then whenever she went in the sun that summer it got red again but it didn't hurt.She was like that untill the 3rd week in August so pretty much 2 months.It is usually not a big deal but be careful if you are pregnant-being exposed in the first trimester can be dangerous(last summer I was pregnant and a family member brought there kid near me with it and tried to say she had a rash-I reconized it right away and said I think she has fifth's which she said well ya but she is not contagious anymore because the rash was out-but she had other kids that hadn't come down with it yet and didn't seem to see the potential that they might be contagious)

 

[bartleby1]

My oldest daughter had it when she was 4 and it went away within a week. She had no symptoms other than the rash. The rash did not flare up again with sun exposure like the doctor said it might.

Unfortunately, I caught it from her and was in a TON of pain, especially in my knees, for about 3 months. It was horrible!

 

[ChristaDeVil]

My daughter had this a few years ago. It only lasted about 2 weeks for her until the rash was all gone. At first we thought her cheeks were sunburned but then she got the other symptoms too.
Apparently I never had it as a child so I got it from her. Let me tell you that it was horrible! It is so much worse for adults than it is for children. I was so sick and got the arthritic joints from it...I got it so bad I was up at night crying in pain for almost 2 months. I had an almost 1 year old ds at the time and couldn't even carry him without being in terrible pain. I kept telling everyone that I felt like I was 90 with horrible arthritis and I was only 32 y.o. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.
I pray for your sake you've had it before!!!!!
I hope he feels better soon. Make sure to take a mister fan with you and fill it up with free cups of ice water from the counter service plase to help keep him cool!
A clip-on fan and sunshade would be great for the stroller too. You can get a fan at CVS for like $6.
have a great trip!

I had the same experience about 2 years ago. My son got it and it lasted about a week. I caught it from him and was in pain for at least 6 weeks. No amount of Advil or pain killers would keep me from waking up in the middle of night. My knees are bad anyway, but I could barely walk up steps (and I was 31!).
He should be fine in the parks. Lots of water and stuff to keep cool!

 

[dreamer423]

Poor DS8 had it 3 yrs ago in August. We were on a road trip between So Fl and No Ga. Our a/c wasn't working properly and car was HOT. poor Ds was miserable. Hot and "sunburned" with the rash all over his body. a little itchy. I still cringe about it. poor baby.