5ths disease?

[nikkiARNGwife]

So my mom just called to tell me that my nephew has 5ths disease. We saw them about 15 days ago but she freaked me out b/c she said the contagious period can be up to like 15 days before the rash/fever... so I called my doctor's office. The nurse said that if I was exposed there's nothing to do but just wait and see if I get sick. My mom can't remember if I had it as a child. So now I'm just worried...everything I've read online though says that the danger in pregnancy is only during the first trimester. Should I be concerned? I guess there's really nothing that can be done now..I just hope Avery doesn't get sick.

[aggiefamily]

You will be fine. If you do get it, it is just uncomfortable. I got it my 2nd year teaching and just had a fever for a day and then an itchy rash a few days later.

[ShortCake]

I've never heard of it....so I'm no help. Hopefully you won't get it or your little one.

[Kim]

At this point there is no point worrying about it. You just need to wait and see. Most likely you are ok. I am sure that number is the furthest out that they have documented a case.

[Tracie Stroud]

I think you'll be okay. HUGS!

[nikkiARNGwife]

Thanks y'all..I'm not terribly worried..my mom likes to over react to stuff and then freak me out. Besides if I'm already exposed there's nothing we can do about it now...besides surely I've had it before...there were 4 of us growing up and we certainly had EVERYTHING that came along lol...my mom says she definately remembers my sister Lisa having it so I had to have also..besides after working in a daycare for 2 years and teaching for 5 I had to have come across it at some point right lol :)

[aggiefamily]

Better for Avery to get it now than when there is a little baby in the house!

[Mama-to-Elle]

UGH, Sorry bout that Nikki, I hope you guys slide through without getting it!!

[arenee]

There is a blood test you can do to see if you have had 5th in the past. But you have a great attitude about it. Nothing to worry about til you have something to worry about.

[Jennifer]

I was exposed while teaching during both of my pregnancies. My docs never seemed to concerned b/c I was past the first trimester. Hope you don't get it, though! I hear it's kinda itchy. :(

[Heather Roselli]

Our kids had this last year...each about 2 weeks apart. They just got a rash...dh and I never did get it. Hope you both escape it!

[LenaGardner]

Well I'll have to go against the grain and say it CAN be a big deal, and by that I don't mean anything regarding the pregnancy or hurting the baby. We have NO idea where I got it from when Nathan was 4, but I did get it. Then I gave it to my wasband and then he gave it to Nathan. (I mean, not on purpose but heck we all shared a household!)

It can affect women differently that men, and of course differently than children. I have a fairly high tolerance for pain (for instance, I mostly only take Motrin after my c-sections, etc) and I was miserable. Not itchy at all like others have mentioned. But it locked up my joints and I couldn't move my hands or neck for 3 days. We ended up having to get someone to come take care of me because I could feed myself or really move at all. When wasband was at work, someone had to be there to help me. I took sleeping pills so I could sleep through the pain. My neck pain was so bad they tested me for meningitis.

The doctor said it was one of the more serious cases they had seen and they did a rubella titer to make sure it was in fact, 5ths and not rubella. Sure enough, it was 5ths (the symptoms are similar).

Anyway, like magic, after 3 days I felt fine! It comes and goes just like that.

My point is, the symptoms can vary from person to person but NO, I would not worry this late in the pregnancy other than if you fall ill, and get a bad case of it, having to take care of Avery by yourself.

My wasband didn't have it too bad. He had a fever and felt lethargic for one day and then he was fine. When Nathan got it, he only laid on the couch for one morning with the rash and fever, and then he was fine.

I had lingering joint pain after it, I had what they call reactionary arthritis, which can last for 6 to 24 months after the viral illness, but I also was an aerobics instructor at the time, teaching 2-3 hours a day, so it's hard to say how much of my joint pain was from overuse.

The lingering joint pain is very common, and I've heard many women complain of it, but it's tolerable. Nothing debilitating by any means.

I seriously hope you don't have it, but not for fear of the pregnancy...for fear of surviving not feeling well while trying to take care of Avery. Is there someone that can help with him if you do come down with it? If you do get it, I'll pray that you don't have it "bad".

((hugs))

[MelindaH]

Eek, sorry to hear of your bad experience, Lena. I thought I'd read that there can be come complications when I looked it up once a while ago.

Hopefully you don't get it and it will be a non-issue. HUGS!

[*Kelly*]

Nikki.. it's only harmful for women in their first trimester of pregnancy. I had a student in my class come down with 5th's and I had to have blood taken to check me because I was still in my first trimester. I don't think there is anything for you to be too concerned with.

[nikkiARNGwife]

Thanks again everyone..it's been almost 15 days since we saw my nephew so I'm thinking if we were going to get sick we would have by now..I'm really just not going to worry about it unless we get sick...

Lena, my mom lives 10 minutes away and said if Avery gets sick she can help me with him. It would be rough right now..I'm at that stage now where EVERYTHING is rough kwim...and no hubby here to help isn't easy.

[kresta]

Hey hon, Wes just had this right before school started. I freaked out because his rash looked awful. I did tons of research on my own about it and took him to his pediatrician.

Here's the scoop: The name "5ths Disease" makes it sound like something really awful, but it is not at all. By the time you actually see the rash, your child is no longer contagious at all, so he can go to school/church/etc. Sometimes a little bit of sickness (cold-like symptoms) precedes the rash, but my pediatric nurse said that in all the years they've seen kids for 5ths, they've never had a parent tell them their kids were sick the previous week. Wes wasn't even uncomfortable with his rash at all, he just looked bad and was tired of me examining it all the time! So to sum things up, no big deal except looking bad. No worries. It will go away sometime between 1-3 weeks. With Wes, it started on his face and as it spread to other parts of his body (arms, torso, legs), it lessened in the areas in which it began. So when it was bad on his legs, it wasn't even on his face anymore at all.

Oh yeah, the pediatric nurse mentioned that I may need to mention to my OB that I had been exposed to 5ths. In the info I found on the net it said it was extremely rare for it to negatively affect pregnant women or their fetuses. I actally forgot to mention it to my OB and it was fine.

Here's the link that I got most of my info from: http://kidshealth.org/parent/infections/bacterial_viral/fifth.html

[my3hens]

Hope it passes ya by honey, I know how scary that kinda thing can be. Sounds like you are def okay though. Keep us posted honey!