Fifth Disease

Fifth disease is a very common disease found in the age group of people between 5 and 15 years. Children are more prone to this disease. Children will have a red rash on the face like a slapped cheek which will slowly spread to trunk, legs and hands. This is due to a viral infection and is not much complicated. Children can recover fast. This is caused by the parvovirus B19. It cannot be spread by animals to humans and vice versa.

The signs will start with low grade fever, head ache and cold like symptoms. After 3 or 4 days, the rash appears on the face. Both cheeks will start having the rash and it will slowly spread to all parts of the body. For some, it may be itchy. But most it may have a look like bruises. This will take about 3 to 4 weeks of time to get cure completely. An attack of the fifth disease may lead to swelling in joints, wrist. The parvovirus is contagious during its early stages. When the child develops mild symptoms, it is contagious. A sad note is that when pregnant ladies are infected, it may cause serious effects to the fetus and may even do not survive it. But if the mothers have had earlier infection of this virus, they will remain immune to the virus.

There is no vaccine against this disease. The virus is contagious in its early stages and hence cannot avoid spreading. Practicing good hygiene is the only solution. Try to have hand washes frequently. Have a clean and green atmosphere around you. A shocking statistics reveal that around 60% of the world population is being infected by this virus in their early ages. There is no proper medicine as this itself is not a complicated one.