Fifth's Disease - The Colony,TX

C.,
It has been going around like wildfire over the last month. It is a viral illness which usually has no fever associated with it. The classic symptoms are the "slapped" cheeks and a lacy rash on the arms and legs- occassionally on the trunk. The rash looks much worse after a bath, or running around. The kids are contagious before the rash appears, so basically it is transmitted very easily. The rash can last up to 10 days- there are times it will look like it is gone only to flare up again.
There is no treatment- if the rash happens to be itchy (rare, but it does happen) you can treat w/ Benadryl.
All 4 of my kiddos and my hubby have had it in the last month.
I am the Rn on call for North Dallas Pediatrics this weekend, so if you use us, this is the same advice I would give if you called in :-)

Feel free to e-mail w/ any questions!

D.

It is nothing to worry about unless you are pregnant. It is viral and will go away by itself.

Here are a couple of links for info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifth_disease
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/fifthdisease.html

It isn't anything serious or to worry about unless, like stated, you are pregnant. However, if she is fussy that is because it is uncomfortable-it has something to do with I believe, the nerve-endings and so your body is kinda achy. The best way I can describe it, is flu-like aches. My daughter so lovingly shared this "disease" with me when she was about 8 months old. Hope it passes quickly and that it doesn't get passed along.

My 13 month old daughter came home from MDO with the same thing last week. I took her to the doctor and he said it was Fifth's Disease. He said it was a type of viral infection and would go away on its own. He did not send us home with any kind of medicine for it. The next morning her rash was completely gone and she is doing just fine now.

My sons kindergarden class had outbreak of this.
I am 7 months pregnant and was very worried...I was informed they are contigious 10-14 days before rash even breaks out,after this time,they are no longer contigious..and theres no cure for it,let it run its course.
Now,if your pregnant,you must see your OB immed for a blood test to see if youve contracted this,it can be highly dangerous for pregnant woman,early on in pregancey,i do believe.

my dd got it about 3 weeks ago. my doctor told me that was very contagious... however, once the rash came it wasn't anymore. she said there was no treatment for it, it just had to run it's course. i was very worried that my 6 week old dd would get it too but she never did.

It's a virus. My son actually had it a couple times (even though kids are supposedly immune after the first time with it). Their face will have a "slapped cheek" appearance, there's a fever (and accompanying grumpiness), then the fever breaks and they break out in a "lace-like" rash. The rash isn't all over, and it doesn't itch. I think it's just on the arms and legs. When the rash breaks out the child is no longer contagious, and it will go away in a few days.
From what I understand some kids can carry it without any symptoms, others will have some symptoms but not others, etc. My son was never sick to his stomach with it. Just fever, grumpy, red cheeks and the characteristic rash.

There's nothing you can do about it except treat the fever with motrin or tylenol.

My daughter had this recently as well...she had it once before and I took her to the doctor and they told me that usually they are contagious before they get the red cheeks. Also there wasn't anything they could do for it and let it run its course....I found alot of info about it on the internet as well...

C.

Out daughters had it when they were 2ish - we have twins and it went from one to the other. I thought it was a sunburn on their cheeks like you did, then noticed it was spider-web like on one of their backs so in we went to the doctor and he walked in and said, oh, she has Fifths Disease! I had no idea what he meant but he explained that once it reached the phase where it was showing that it was no longer contagious...it's one of THOSE diseases! It is contagious before it physically shows up.

My son had it last spring and it is very common. I barely noticed he had it other than the rash, he acted and played fine. I caught it as well and I was 3 months pregnant. We are all fine, baby and all. It is a harmless virus, and will go away in a few weeks.

My 6 month old daughter had Fifth disease a few weeks ago. She broke out into a "lacey rash" all over her body and when I took her to the pediatrician, that’s what he told me it was. He explained to me that it’s called Fifth disease because it is the 5th disease in the family of Measles, Rubella, Scarlet fever and something else. According to him, it can be accompanied by some aching muscles and such, but in general it’s mild and relatively painless and when the virus has run it’s course, then the body brakes out into the rash which can last for a week or two. My daughter’s rash was gone in about a week and a half. Once a child has it once, they can never get it again and it is apparently very common in young children. We never had any problems with her except that rash, I had no idea she was sick before or after at all. Although it sounded scary when he first said the word “disease,” after talking to him and watching my daughter, I realized it really wasn’t a big deal at all. Like most viruses, my doc said there wasn’t really any medicine you can use for it so we just watched her to make sure the rash went away and it did! Hope everything goes just as smoothly for your little girl!

My daughter just had that. It's a virus and there's nothing you can really do about it. Kids get sick ( vomit) and then the rash appears. It is no longer contagious when the rash is visible. It didn't seem to bother my daughter any.