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Health & Fitness

Fifth Disease: Not Just For Kids

I have always heard and read that as one gets older minor illnesses such as the common cold or the occasional gastrointestinal virus affect us in more dreadful ways.  A year ago, I learned this the hard way.  I awoke in the middle of the night with a fever of 103 degrees and chills so bad that my teeth were chattering.  The thought that maybe I should go to the emergency room crossed my mind, but I was too sick for that.  I waited it out until the next day when I traipsed to my family doctor.  Even though I had received the flu vaccine, she told me that I probably had the flu.  Lucky me!  She sent me home with a prescription for Tamiflu and told me to take it easy and drink copious amounts of fluids.  The fun had only begun.  Exactly one week later, I developed excruciating joint pain, again in the middle of the night, for which I made another trip to my doctor.  This time she was puzzled.  I had some lab work done and she called me a few days later.  “Your lab work came back and everything was normal except one test which is really interesting.  It shows that you have Fifth Disease.  It is caused by the virus parvovirus B19 which is usually seen in children.”  Even with my background in microbiology, I had never heard of this disease.  Of course, I had to research it and here is what I found.

Fifth disease, or erythema infectiosum, is one of six childhood illnesses that cause a rash named by doctors at the turn of the 20th century.  The six are as follows:

·         First disease:  measles

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·         Second disease:  scarlet fever

·         Third disease:  Rubella (German measles)

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·         Fourth disease:  Duke's disease

·         Fifth disease:  erythema infectiosum

·         Sixth disease:  roseola

To digress a moment, I wonder why they did not include other diseases that cause rash such as chicken pox or impetigo.  These are commonly seen in children, also.  And Duke’s disease?  I had never heard of this one either.  Out of curiosity, during my research of Fifth disease, I tried to find out about this but no one is sure what it is.  Some think it is what we now call staphylococcal scalded skin syndrome which causes blisters on the skin from toxins from the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus

The most common feature of Fifth disease is the facial rash called a “slapped-cheek rash” which is only seen with this disease.  Once the facial rash disappears, a red, lacy rash may appear on the rest of the body.  Other symptoms include flu-like symptoms such as fever, sore throat and body aches.  For most children and adults, the infection is uneventful.

In some adults, however, the illness can be far worse and can last much longer than 7-10 days.  It can affect or even shut down red blood cell production for a few days which does not create problems for most people but for someone who has a blood disorder such as sickle cell anemia, it can be a serious consequence.  Another symptom which I had the unfortunate pleasure of experiencing is joint pain.  It occurs much more frequently in women and is quite painful lasting for months and even years.  In fact, chronic joint pain from parvovirus infection can be difficult to distinguish from rheumatoid arthritis. 

As with all infectious diseases, Fifth disease can be prevented by using good hygiene.  It is spread through respiratory droplets (saliva, nasal secretions, sneezing) so using good hand washing techniques is crucial.  It can also be spread via blood or blood products and from mother to fetus.  Pregnant health care workers need to be aware of the risks to their unborn child.   The two most important things to remember about this infectious disease is that for most people it is   uneventful and once you have contracted the illness you will have lifelong immunity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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