Son has Fifth's Disease, and I'm Pregnant

[ChristineEileen]

So i'm just about 5 weeks pregnant, hooray! Last night my 7yo had a bit of a rash, so I had him shower, thinking it might have been contact dermatitis, or just irritation from being sweaty. Well, it spread overnight, so I took him in to our CNP this morning, and it turns out that he has Fifth's Disease. Of course he does, right??

So now I'm (understandably, to me) quite concerned about the risk of getting infected, and of being someone that doesn't have immunity to it, and of something happening, and...and...(I can't bring myself to say the m-word!)

Has anyone had any experience with this while pregnant? I'm trying not to worry, to be calm until Monday when I go in for a blood test, but...wow, kind of nerve-wracking...

Thanks

[Joyster]

Yep, mind you, I was in my second trimester. DS2 got fifths disease on top of conjunctivitis one weekend. Both were cleared up by Monday. With Fifths, I was told that the disease is contagious before the rash pops up, so I would likely have it. I've never had either disease that my mother knew of, but really, the symptoms could be so mild that a mother may not notice. The risk as I understand it is more for women in their first trimester, however the risk is pretty small if they haven't been previously exposed.

Anyhow, I had to have a later u/s due to my little guy hiding from the tech the first scan, and so far, the best anyone can tell, baby is well, stubborn but well.

[JFTB1177]

Was your doc sure it was Fifths? My DS1 had Fifths and he didn't have a rash but rather a "slapped cheeks" look.

I know the worry- my DS2 just got over some weird rash thing that my ped just said is "viral" and I was pretty worried. I'm sure everything will be ok though- for both of us. That's all pg is you know- worry worry worry... <sigh>

[goldfinches]

I contracted it with my first from a child whose mother didn't think it was important to figure out why her son had a fever and rash, while letting me hold him. I was 12 weeks. My doctor gave me a blood test to see if I had had it when I was younger, and found out I hadn't. I was then sent to a maternal fetal specialist who had me do 3-4 level 2 ultrasounds for the rest of my pregnancy They looked for fluid on the baby's brain, they said it showed signs of anemia. I guess anemia is what you need to be concerned about if the 5ths crosses the placenta.
I would urge you to go get the blood test. Hopefully, you had it when you were younger or even as an adult. (it manifests as achy joints in adults.)

[beachlover]

I had a confirmed case at about 5 weeks of pregnancy. Confirmed with a blood test that showed I had just had it. Not sure exactly what it looked for, but there is different tests. One that can show immunity because you had it a long time ago, and one that shows you have just recently had it.

I knew it anyways because all of my other children had various symptoms of it. Some the slapped cheeks, some the lacy rash on the arms and leg. Dh and I both had a head to toe red rash with it and our joints ached like crazy.

Anyways, I had a couple of extra u/s to check on fluid in the baby. Our little girl was born perfectly healthy. I will say that just before I had it, my OB had another patient who had contacted it in the second trimester and her baby died in utero with hydrops.

So, it can be serious.

You should have your son tested with a blood test to confirm, and then also get a blood test from your own OB to check for immunity. If you don't have immunity he will probably want to do a repeat test in a few weeks/month to see if you have come down with it. Some people have very mild symptoms and don't even know they have it.

Good Luck, hopefully you'll be just fine.

[Manessa]

I had a similar experience to the other women. My midwife could tell from my blood test that I had just had it. She told me that most adults have been exposed as children, so the odds are good that you've already had it. I had 2 extra ultrasounds looking for fetal anemia. Everything was fine, and dd is now 12. Try not to worry too much. I'm sure everything will be fine

[ChristineEileen]

Thank you, everyone, for all the information!!! I thought our Nurse Practitioner had said he had it another time, we saw a different dr yesterday, so I don't know. Going in tomorrow (early!) to get the whole blood draw/screening thing done.

Thank you so much for replying, it makes me feel better