Rosy cheeks cause panic to daughter

I received a rather panicky phone call this morning. It seems that Emma has Fifth Disease, a mild rash that affects approximately half of the population at some time or other. It is also called “slapped cheek” because one of the first symptoms is very rosy cheeks.
My daughter noticed the rosy cheeks when she picked Emma up from preschool. She thought that maybe the child had a fever but that wasn’t the case. Then when she helped her change for gymnastics she noticed the lacy rash on her body. She kept her home and Emma was unhappy to say the least.
She told Emma that she might have to miss preschool the following day. This produced much wailing and distress as they were going to have a play about Squanto the Indian at school and Emma very much wanted to be there.
Emma’s doctor said that once symptoms appeared the disease was no longer contagious and Emma could go to school. The school concurred, much to Emma’s relief. I’m still waiting to hear about the play.
A quick search of the Internet revealed that about 20-percent of those infected with Fifth Disease don’t have any symptoms. Most of the rest get by with just a rash. Sometimes adults can have joint pain and swelling, but this doesn’t last. The rash goes away in a week or so.
Fifth Disease is caused by a virus and is spread much the same way as the common cold. The incubation period is between four and 21 days, during which there may be no symptoms or maybe just a mild malaise or other vague flu-like symptoms. It is most contagious during the incubation period and before the onset of anything noticeable. These wily viruses have thus far avoided our attempts to create a vaccine or treatment to prevent them from decorating the body with their lacy rash. All we can do is wait it out. The best advice for preventing this disease is to wash our hands frequently.
The only severe complication from this seems to occur in a very small  minority of pregnant women in that it can cause severe anemia in the unborn baby and possibly a miscarriage. Thus the panic in my pregnant daughter’s voice. There is no evidence that it causes birth defects or mental retardation. One of the hazards of her being a nurse is that she knows what can go wrong. That is why every birth is a miracle in itself and also why she was so upset when she called.
The name Fifth Disease was coined in the early 1900’s or late 1800’s when a French physician assigned numbers to the common childhood diseases characterized by rashes. For example, measles was first disease, scarlet fever was second disease, rubella was third disease, Duke’s disease was fourth, and so on. Eventually, the numerical names for these diseases were replaced, except in the case of Fifth Disease, which remains today.
Emma will be fine, as will Jacob if he catches it. I’ll have to trust that my daughter and her unborn baby will also survive this latest disaster. Viruses will always seek out small children and try to make them ill.
It’s the little things that trip us up. We can handle the big stuff. A minor rash is nothing to worry about and the tiny chance that it will affect our unborn baby is a chance we will have to take. After all, there’s not much we can do about it now.
At least Emma got to see the play about Squanto, a Patuxet Indian who helped the Pilgrims survive their first rugged winter in this country. Now if we could find someone to help my daughter survive this pregnancy with a minimum of panic, we would be all set. In mean time she will spend Thanksgiving with her sister and I will wait for her next panicky phone call.[[In-content Ad]]