If Alex had been Angela Bloomfield?s first child, she might have panicked at the raised rash that raced down her five-year-old son?s body a few months ago. ?You could watch it travelling along his body, from the top of his head, all the way down,? the Montreal mom recalls. A day earlier, Alex?s cheeks turned bright crimson, and he began running a low-grade fever. When she saw the red, lacy pattern blooming on her son?s torso, Bloomfield connected the dots: Fifth disease, or ?slapped cheek syndrome,? named for the look of the classic facial rash.
Both of her older kids had contracted the viral infection while in kindergarten, so Bloomfield knew that fifth disease was a benign illness?at least most of the time. Because it temporarily stops production of red blood cells, fifth disease?caused by the Parvovirus B19 infection and also known as erythema infectiosum?is potentially risky in children with certain blood diseases, people with compromised immune systems and a small minority of unborn babies whose mothers become infected while pregnant.
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Your ultimate guide to the most common kid illnessesFifth disease, which typically hits kids between the ages of four and 10, was so named because it was the fifth rashy childhood infection to be described in ...