Kelsie’s Got Fifth Disease

Last Thursday we had spent the afternoon outside while on Spring Break.  That night I noticed Kelsie looked like she had a sunburn on her arms and cheeks.  We rubbed Hawaiian Tropic Lime Coolada lotion on her.  The next day the red seemed to have disappeared for the most part.  However while we were bowling I noticed her arms start to turn red again, like the sunburn.  Well Zack thought maybe she was allergic to that lotion because he had put it on her again that morning.
We bought some Benadryl at Target and gave it to her immediately and then after every 6 hours.  As of Saturday it wasn’t really appearing.  The kids played outside and again Kelsie came in that night with the red and so I was thinking sun burn again, even though I had applied sunscreen to her this time.  I put aloe on her and that was that.  Sunday we applied aloe on her again and still gave her Benadryl, because we weren’t positive what it was.
Monday she went to school and I applied sun screen to her so that if they went outside she wouldn’t get sunburned.  She came home that afternoon, red.  So I honestly began thinking she had a sun allergy!  Because it seemed that the sun aggravated it.  We went Monday night and bought Aveeno Oatmeal Bath and Aveeno lotion.  She soaked in the tub, took Benadryl and got rubbed down on all the areas that appeared red.  I told Zack if nothing had changed I’d call the dr on Tuesday morning.
Tuesday morning rolled around and I checked on her.  Her arms had whelps on them, so I called the dr.  They couldn’t see her then but had an opening this morning.  We went this morning and she was diagnosed with Fifth Disease. 
In case your not familiar with what that is here is what I have:
Fifth's disease is a mild illness caused by a virus known as human parvovirus B19. The medical name for fifth's disease is erythema infectiosum (EI). It is seen primarily in school-aged children between 5 and 14 years of age during the spring and winter. Fifth's disease causes a reddish rash on the child's face so that it looks as if the child has been slapped on both cheeks.

• The virus is thought to spread via droplets in the air (respiratory secretions transmitted by coughs and sneezes) and blood from other infected people. Early during the illness, nasal secretions contain the viral DNA. Blood has been found to contain viral particles as well as DNA.
• Cases of fifth's disease can occur either sporadically or as part of community outbreaks. Outbreaks occur mainly in elementary schools during the spring. Half of the cases occur from spread of the virus to others in the household. Transmission of the infection in schools is less common.
• At least half of adults have had the infection and are unlikely to be re-infected. About 10% or fewer of young children are immune.
• People with the illness are contagious before the onset of symptoms and are probably not contagious after they develop the rash. The incubation period from the time of acquiring the infection to the development of symptoms is usually between four and 14 days.
• The name fifth's disease comes from a classification system used many decades ago. The five most common rashes (or exanthems) of childhood are traditionally recognized to be measles (rubeola), chickenpox (varicella), German measles (rubella), roseola, and the "fifth's disease" (parvovirus B19 infection).

source
So as you can read it’s not serious, thank goodness!  She will return to school tomorrow and that’s that.  It just looks bad.  She isn’t itching or anything so it’s just an appearance.  I don’t know of any other cases in her classroom at all, but that doesn’t mean anything.  She could have picked it up anywhere.  Considering that a person is most contagious the week before the rash appears, anybody could be walking around with it! 



Sorry for the bad lighting, blurry photos, etc…I was trying to snap these up pretty quick to get them up!
Just called Kelsie’s teacher and told her…she said that a little boy had a rash the other day and that another little boy has a rash today…so she was going to read up on Fifth Disease and let the parents know.