Virus that causes fifth disease

It is somewhat contagious. It is most common in young school-age children. Children often get it at school or other places where children gather. Adults can get fifth disease too, but most infections are in children. Symptoms usually show up 4 to 14 days after a child is exposed to the disease.

About 4 in 5 infected children have very mild symptoms for about a week before getting the rash. About 1 in 5 will have no symptoms at all before the rash appears. Children are most contagious before the rash occurs, before they know they have the disease.

The symptoms of fifth disease can be like other health conditions. Make sure your child sees his or her healthcare provider for a diagnosis. The healthcare provider will ask about your child's symptoms and health history. He or she will give your child a physical exam.

The physical exam will include inspecting the rash. The rash is unique to fifth disease, and may be enough to diagnose your child. Since parvovirus B19 infects only humans, a person cannot catch the virus from a pet dog or cat.

Also, a cat or dog cannot catch parvovirus B19 from an infected person. Pet dogs and cats can get infected with other parvoviruses that do not infect humans.

You can get your pets vaccinated to prevent infection from such parvoviruses. Skip directly to site content Skip directly to page options Skip directly to A-Z link. It usually goes away without any long-term problems.

Top of Page. Fifth disease is usually mild for children and adults who are otherwise healthy. But for some people, parvovirus B19 infection can cause serious health complications, such as chronic anemia that requires medical treatment. You may be at risk for serious complications from fifth disease if you have a weakened immune system caused by leukemia, cancer, organ transplants, or HIV infection.

Parvovirus B19—which causes fifth disease—spreads through respiratory secretions, such as saliva, sputum, or nasal mucus, when an infected person coughs or sneezes. After you get the rash you are not likely to be contagious, so it is usually safe for you or your child to go back to work or school. People with fifth disease who have weakened immune systems may be contagious for a longer amount of time. Parvovirus B19 can also spread through blood or blood products. A pregnant woman who is infected with parvovirus B19 can pass the virus to her baby.

Once you recover from fifth disease, you develop immunity that generally protects you from parvovirus B19 infection in the future. They can also do a blood test to determine if you are susceptible or possibly immune to parvovirus B19 infection or if you were recently infected. This is not a routine test but can be performed in special circumstances. Doctors can usually diagnose fifth disease by seeing the distinctive rash on the face and body.

If someone doesn't have the rash but does have other symptoms, the doctor may do blood tests to see if they're caused by fifth disease. Fifth disease is caused by a virus, so can't be treated with antibiotics antibiotics kill bacteria, not viruses. In most cases, this is a mild illness that clears up on its own, so no medicine is needed. Usually, kids with fifth disease feel OK and just need to rest.

After the fever and mild cold symptoms are gone, there may be little to treat except any discomfort from the rash. If your child's rash is itchy, ask the doctor for advice about easing discomfort. The doctor may also recommend acetaminophen for a fever or joint pain. Do not give aspirin to your child, as it has been linked to a rare but serious illness called Reye syndrome.

Fifth disease might cause some children with weakened immune systems such as those with AIDS or cancer or with certain blood disorders like sickle cell disease or hemolytic anemia to become ill.