Warning!...Parvovirus B19, Fifth Disease, Slap Cheek disease

ebalkits · March 2014

I just wanted to put a public service announcement out there about Parvovirus B19 disease (also known as Parvo, Fifth Disease, Slap Cheek Disease) that is a common childhood illness. This is not the same as Parvo in animals. It is not dangerous to anyone but pregnant women, which (although rare) can cause miscarriage or stillbirth. Parvovirus in children usually presents as a cold that goes away, than a few days later children typically develop a fever and rash on their face resembling a "slapped cheek". Adults will typically have milder symptoms and sometimes will show no symptoms at all.

My best friend contracted Parvovirus when she was 37 weeks pregnant and lost her son. She had tried for many years to get pregnant and underwent IVF. She had a perfect and healthy pregnancy with no complications. Her symptoms were that she felt hot and achy one night, had a little diarrhea and was having a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions, but what woman is not feeling these things at 37 weeks? She had never heard of Parvovirus and had no idea that it was something she should be concerned about. She and her husband live and work in NYC and are rarely around other children. To this day, she is not sure how she contracted the disease, but she suspects it might have been from a visit with a recently sick child in her family.

When you are pregnant you are told to avoid a great many things, from alcohol to cold cuts, but you rarely hear about Parvovirus B19. Let me stress, that it is rare that you will contract this and most people have had this in the past without realizing and are immune. However, if you are not immune, I think it's valuable information to have for yourself. I know my friend really wishes she had known about this, as there would've been a lot they could've done for her son had they caught this in time. There is a simple blood test that can tell you if you ever had it. With all the blood work we have to get already, what's one more vial to see if you're immune? You really have to be your own advocate on this, as it is not part of routine blood screening. I asked my own doctor and he did perform the test, even though he thought it "wasn't necessary" and luckily I am immune. To me knowledge is power. I know there are others out there with differing opinions and feel I'm worrying people for no reason, however if I can spare one person from going through this with this information, than it is worth it.

Here is a link to an article on babycenter about Parvovirus and Pregnancy. Recently there has been some success with interuterine blood transfer through the umbilical chord which can be done relatively early in pregnancy, if the illness is caught in time. In the comments section following the article, there are some stories of women who had this procedure done and went on to have full-term babies

Emerald27 · March 2014

1 more thing for pregnant women to be afraid of. Le sigh.

saraeric · March 2014

As a teacher, I'm obviously around kids everyday...no avoiding it. I think since I've been at my school (5 years), there has been 2 cases of fifth's disease. Our school nurse always sends out an email if there's anything dangerous for pg women going around since usually there are several pg ladies at any given time.

ebalkits · March 2014

I'm trying to inform people of a very serious illness that many are not aware of. My best friend lost her child so close to delivery, she had to deliver him knowing he was stillbirth, she had to bury him and then she had to deal with the horrible emotional and physical aftermath that she is still dealing with today almost a year later. If I can spare one person from going through what she went through, then this post is worth it. How many people do you know who have actually gotten listeria from cold cuts and had a miscarriage, but we're all warned to death about it? You don't have to listen to my advice, but you don't need to leave snide comments either.

noellemari · March 2014

So....do I avoid my other children for the next nine months? I'm confused, because I get that it's a risk, but what exactly should we do about it? Go in a bubble? Your said yourself your friend isn't 100% sure where she got it. She only suspects it came from a nephew.

ebalkits · March 2014

I disagree as most OBs don't warn their patients about this, as mine didn't in my first pregnancy. Obviously my friend's didn't either and many of my other friends who have been or currently are pregnant haven't been warned by theirs'. I'm not telling every pregnant woman to run to the hills if they come across a sick child, but to ask their doctors to run a simple blood test along with their other bloodwork. It wouldn't even require an extra visit and it's valuable information to know if you are not immune.

ebalkits · March 2014

Let me clarify...I'm definitely not blaming her nephew as she is not sure (I will try to edit my original post to make that clearer), but she would not have visited him that day if she knew he was sick and Parvovirus was something she had to be concerned about. She definitely could've gotten it elsewhere, however had she known there were symptoms she should of have been concerned about, she would have most likely visited her doctor earlier. At 37 weeks, he could of been delivered safely.

I'm glad I was able to inform you of this.

ebalkits · March 2014

Frankly, I'm very surprised by all the negative comments surrounding this post. My intent of sharing this information was to inform and hopefully bring awareness to this disease that not many people know about. My hope is that some women may find this information helpful, will discuss it with their doctors and make their own decisions if they want to get tested or not. This is a rare disease to contract as an adult, but it does happen and have serious consequences to pregnant woman as I have witnessed first hand. For those that disagree with my decision to share this information, then we'll agree to disagree. You're entitled to your opinions, as I am to mine.

Greenmood · March 2014

Scare tactics. Hate it. Boooo.

Any of you ladies out there getting freaked out by this post, please just ask your doctor or midwife. Don't let random strangers on the internet scare the crap out of you.

colacrock · March 2014

When I was pregnant with my second son, my oldest little boy had Fifths disease. I was early in my second trimester and called my Dr. because I of course Googled it and was freaking out. She had me come in that day to get a blood test to see if I had the antibodies for it. I did, thank goodness, and I was fine. However, if I hadn't had the antibodies, I would have had to have weekly ultrasounds and would have been considered high risk, etc.

VioletFlower · March 2014

IF you get parvovirus pregnant it can be very serious. I am well versed in this, unfortunately. However, there also isn't generally anything the drs can do if a pregnant woman does get this and it affects her baby. So fear mongering isn't going to help anyone. Pregnant women should be careful around sick people, we know that. That is all we can do.

ebalkits · March 2014

Actually, there has been some recent success with intravenous blood transfusions through the baby's umbilical chord which can be done even in early pregnancy if caught in time.

ebalkits · March 2014

Here is an article on babycenter that talks about parvovirus and interuterine blood transfer. In the comments section following the article there are several stories of women who had this procedure done relatively early in their pregnancies and ended up having full term healthy babies.

https://www.babycenter.com/0_fifth-disease-parvovirus-b19-during-pregnancy_1463060.bc

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