Fifths' Disease anyone?

[Hillbeans]

It's just not my (week). Last week I was around a co-worker who had Shingles and I just found out my Niece has Fifth's Disease. I've not had direct contact with her in about 10 days, however our families spend time together (my DH golfed with my Brother over the weekend, my son goes to the sitter with my other younger niece, who as of now doesn't have it).

I'm going to call my Doctor tomorrow, however i'm just nervous about the what if's. I may have already been exposed to it previously, however there is so much more to worry about now being PG. I just wonder if I should keep my son out of the sitter tomorrow and or how long I should avoid contact with the family.

Anyone know anything about this and how contagious it is?

Thanks in advance.

 

[RobinMarie]

I looked it up once when we thought a cousin had it.

http://www.familyeducation.com/experts/advice/0,1183,1-3862,00.html

Fifth's disease is a viral illness that is caused by Parvovirus. The usual symptoms of an infection with Parvovirus are mild fever, some malaise, muscle aches and possibly headaches, and then approximately seven or ten days later a rash develops which is a bright red facial rash on both cheeks. This is sometimes referred to as a "slapped-cheek" appearance because the cheeks are so bright red. Some children will also have a rash on their arms and legs that comes and goes. However, there are also some people who don't really have many symptoms other than signs of a slight cold.
It is true that there is a possible risk to the fetus if a woman is infected with Parvovirus during the pregnancy, however, this risk is very, very low. First of all, this risk is higher in the first half of the pregnancy than in the second half of the pregnancy. The other thing to keep in mind is that the majority of adults already have had Parvovirus or been exposed to it, and thus have developed antibodies to it and will not get it again. Thus more than half of pregnant women are not even susceptible to it.

Thus it is very unlikely that you will have any problem if your child does indeed end up having Fifth's disease. The other thing that you should know is that by the time the red rash on the face develops, the child is no longer contagious. Therefore it does not make sense to try and stay away from your son at this point or to prevent his exposure to other people. You should talk with your obstetrician in order to determine if she would like to do any further studies to verify that the baby is doing fine.

 

[trappednabox]

My little sis had this. We didn't have any problems, she stayed home from school for a few days but that was it. No big deal.

 

[Tinkerbelle739]

Fifths disease in adults is no joke. My DH and I both contracted it after both of our kids caught it. They were better in no time, we however were not so lucky. The doctor, after diagnosing us, told us that it can last up to 8 weeks in adults. We had severe back and neck aches and extremely swollen glands in the back of our heads. (Did not know there were glands there!) We could not lay on our pillows at night, we had low grade fever with chills and we never got the rash. There is no remedy and I don't think you can check to see if you will contract it.

Good luck!

 

[aprilgail2]

My daughter was just diagnosed with it today! She came home from school and called me at work to say she had polka dots all over her arms legs and stomach. Took her to the Dr and she has Fifths Disease. Got a note from the Dr saying she can go to school tomorrow since once the rash breaks out they are no longer contagious. They are only contagiouse about a week prior to the rash so once you know they have it they have already spread it around. I called everyone we were around over the weekend to let them be aware in case their kids come down with a fever or rash.

 

[Karel]

Fifth disease can spread like wildfire, though it is true that it is not a big deal for kids. It's alarming to see a kid with it but the sickest they will be is a low fever and maybe an upset stomach.

It is more dangerous for pregnant women and the elderly. I would definitely call your doctor as soon as possible. I would keep your child away from your younger niece too.

 

[kbkids]

I would definitely check with your doctor. But I do know when I was pregnant with my 2nd child and working at a preschool, my OB did a blood test to see if I did have the antibodies to it. My 1st child had it when she was 2, so we felt certain that I was fine having already been exposed to it, but he ran the test just to be sure. It came back fine and he told me to keep working if I wanted to. He did tell me it would be rare for an adult to have not already been exposed to it at some point.

Good Luck and let us know what you find out.


P.S. I still want to know how things turn out on the chicken pox issue too.

 

[eeyore45]

Just wanted to add when I worked at a preschool, same thing, a teacher was pregnant, and her class broke out with 5th disease, she also got the blood test and found she had antibiodies too!

 

[nativetxn]

My son had Fifth's Disease and neither my husband nor I ended up with it.

 

[browneyes]

Hopefuly you're immune. Call your OB/GYN and tell them you've been exposed to it though. If you're not immune, it is not good for your baby at all. I was exposed to it when I was pregnant with my dd, my lab results were inconclusive. They couldn't tell if I was immune or not. It took us a month of getting labs done each week. They told me if the test didn't say I wasn't immune right away, that was a good sign. That was the longest month.

The dr told me in young children and adults, it looks like they've been slapped, they have red cheeks. They run a fever, and have cold-like symptoms. Most kids that have had it, had it in the winter time or in the extreme heat of summer, so they never know they have it. The red cheeks are attributed to the hot or to the cold, and the fever is attributed to having a summer or winter cold. It's highly contagious, and is very harmful to fetuses if the mother is not immune.

 

[candykisses]

Brad had Fifths disease when I was pregnant with Ryan. I had to have blood work done every week for 6 weeks. It was a loooong 6 weeks.

Good luck and please keep us updated.

 

[Snow Dog Mom]

Fifths disease in adults is no joke. My DH and I both contracted it after both of our kids caught it. They were better in no time, we however were not so lucky. The doctor, after diagnosing us, told us that it can last up to 8 weeks in adults. We had severe back and neck aches and extremely swollen glands in the back of our heads. (Did not know there were glands there!) We could not lay on our pillows at night, we had low grade fever with chills and we never got the rash. There is no remedy and I don't think you can check to see if you will contract it.

Good luck!

I was diagnosed with this last month. It was not any fun. I had just bought a new bed and my neck was killing me. I thought I'd dropped a lot of money on a new bed for nothing! Mine lasted about 2 weeks. Somehow I got it before my daughter and almost every child in her class had it. She was better after 2 days!

Kim

 

[golfgal]

Most people get 5ths disease as a child, so there is a good chance you have already had it. It is the 5th "childhood" disease along with chicken pox, measles, mumps and whooping cough (pertussis), I think are the other 4 and thus the name.

 

[luvwinnie]

Oh, no, sorry to hear this! Let us know what your dr. says!

 

[KarenC]

I had Fifth Disease last June and it caused my immune system to go nuts and I ended up with a rare auto immune disease called ITP. So I've had an opportunity to learn about lots of downsides to Fifth Disease. I'm definitely more of an advocate for childhood immunizations knowing how bad these childhood diseases are when they hit the adult immune system. I've had more than $130,000 in medical bills in the aftermath of that "mild childhood disease".

My friend, who is an OB told me that if the fetus is exposed that they do transfusions (I think I remember that right). The trouble comes when her patients don't know that they've been exposed. The sooner she knows to start watching out for problems related to Fifth Disease, the more likely is that there will be a happy outcome. So call your OB right away!

It is true that the period that people are contagious is prior to the time that they have any symptoms. Good luck to you!

 

[Hillbeans]

Just called the OB...i'll be going for blood work tomorrow morning.

Hope i've already had it!!

Gosh...so much to worry about! Hope all of you who've had it or your kids have it are feeling better soon.

 

[MUFFYCAT]

My 10 DD had it last year, it was going throughout the school. Hers wasn't too bad , stayed home 2 days. THere was a classmate who was out of school for 6 days.

 

[melissacan]

My son came home with this last year. It was nothing. His cheeks were red and he ran a low-grade fever.

About two weeks later, my hands and feet were swollen and my body felt like it was on fire. On the second day I called the doctor in tears. He just had to see me right away. I thought something was seriously wrong. The doctor’s first thought was Rheumatoid Arthritis. After doing blood work twice, I was diagnosed with Fifths disease. Although it took about 6 to 8 weeks to run its course, the worst part lasted about a week. But that week was horrible. That was the sickest I had ever been. All I wanted to do was cry. It hurt to lay down, it hurt to sit up, it hurt to eat. I don’t wish this on my worst enemy.

 

[Lachesis00]

I had it a couple years ago. I have low platelets normally (50,000 or less) but it knocked them to under 5,000! {Most people are over 150,000-600,000 with the norm being around 250,000-450,000}.
The idiot "specialist" wasn't worried b/c you know people w/cancer and aids live with low platelets every day and they are fine... OMG I was so mad. He is lucky I didn't bleed to death.

Fifths disease in adults is no joke. My DH and I both contracted it after both of our kids caught it. They were better in no time, we however were not so lucky. The doctor, after diagnosing us, told us that it can last up to 8 weeks in adults. We had severe back and neck aches and extremely swollen glands in the back of our heads. (Did not know there were glands there!) We could not lay on our pillows at night, we had low grade fever with chills and we never got the rash. There is no remedy and I don't think you can check to see if you will contract it.

Good luck!

 

[KarenC]

I had it a couple years ago. I have low platelets normally (50,000 or less) but it knocked them to under 5,000! {Most people are over 150,000-600,000 with the norm being around 250,000-450,000}.
The idiot "specialist" wasn't worried b/c you know people w/cancer and aids live with low platelets every day and they are fine... OMG I was so mad. He is lucky I didn't bleed to death.

I think we met on the last thread about Fifth Disease...I ended up with 2,000 platelets and lost my spleen...bet you wanted to wear a hard hat while you waited for your platelets to come back!