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Pregnancy and Fifth
disease
What is Fifth disease?
Fifth disease is a virus that commonly
infects humans; about 50% of all adults have been infected sometime during
childhood or adolescence. Fifth disease infects only humans. There are also
animal parvoviruses (the virus which cause the fifth disease), but they do not
infect humans. Therefore, a person cannot catch Fifth disease from a dog or
cat.
What are the signs of
Fifth disease?
Mild rash occurs most often in
children. The ill child typically has a "slapped-cheek" rash on the
face and a lacy red rash on the trunk and limbs. Occasionally, the rash may
itch. The child is usually not very ill, and the rash resolves in 7 to 10 days.
Once a child recovers from parvovirus infection, he or she develops lasting
immunity, which means that the child is protected against future infection.
An adult who has not previously been
infected with Fifth disease can be infected and become ill, and develop a rash,
or joint pain or swelling, or both. The joint symptoms usually resolve in a
week or two, but they may last several months.
Are these illnesses
serious?
Fifth disease is usually a mild
illness. It resolves without medical treatment among children and adults who
are otherwise healthy. Joint pain and swelling in adults usually resolve
without long-term disability. During outbreaks of fifth disease, about 20% of
adults and children are infected without getting any symptoms at all.
I've recently been exposed to a child with fifth disease. How
will this affect my pregnancy?
Usually, there is no serious
complication for a pregnant woman or her baby because of exposure to a person
with fifth disease. About 50% of women are already immune to Fifth disease, and
these women and their babies are protected from infection and illness. Even if
a woman is susceptible and gets infected with Fifth disease, she usually
experiences only a mild illness. Likewise, her unborn baby usually does not
have any problems attributable to Fifth disease infection.
Sometimes, however, Fifth disease
infection will cause the unborn baby to have severe anemia and the woman may
have a miscarriage. This occurs in less than 5% of all pregnant women who are
infected with Fifth disease and occurs more commonly during the first half of
pregnancy. There is no evidence that Fifth disease infection causes birth
defects or mental retardation.
If I've been exposed to
someone with fifth disease, what should I do?
If you have been in contact with
someone who has fifth disease, or if you have an illness that might be caused
by Fifth disease, you may wish to discuss your situation with your personal
physician. Your physician may wish to perform a blood test to see if you have
become infected with Fifth disease.
I have had a blood test
for Fifth disease. What do the results of the blood test mean?
A blood test for Fifth disease may
show 1) that you are immune to Fifth disease and have no sign of recent
infection, 2) that you are not immune and have not yet been infected, or 3)
that you have had a recent infection. If you are immune, then you have nothing
further to be concerned about. If you are not immune and not yet infected, then
you may wish to avoid further exposure during your pregnancy. If you have had a
recent infection, you should discuss with your physician what to do to monitor
your pregnancy.
If I'm infected, what do I
need to do about my pregnancy?
There is no universally recommended
approach to monitor a pregnant woman who has a documented Fifth disease
infection. Some physicians treat a Fifth disease infection in a pregnant woman
as a low-risk condition and continue to provide routine prenatal care. Other
physicians may increase the frequency of doctor visits and perform blood tests
and ultrasound examinations to monitor the health of the unborn baby. The
benefit of these tests in this situation, however, is not clear. If the unborn
baby appears to be ill, there are special diagnostic and treatment options
available, and your obstetrician will discuss these options with you and their
potential benefits and risks.
Is there a way I can keep
from being infected with Fifth disease during my pregnancy?
There is no vaccine or medicine that
prevents Fifth disease infection. Frequent hand washing is recommended as a
practical and probably effective method to reduce the spread of parvovirus.
Excluding persons with fifth disease from work, child care centers, schools, or
other settings is not likely to prevent the spread of Fifth disease, since ill
persons are contagious before they develop the characteristic rash.
CDC does not recommend that pregnant
women should routinely be excluded from a workplace where a fifth disease
outbreak is occurring, because of the problems noted above. Rather, CDC
considers that the decision to stay away from a workplace where there are cases
of fifth disease is a personal decision for a woman to make, after discussions
with her family, physician, and employer
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