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Fifth Disease
The Signs and Symptoms of Fifth Disease
By Gwen Morrison
Because of the red face, fifth disease is often called "slapped face syndrome" by the medical community.
"Occasionally the rash looks like German measles, rather than the typical fifth disease rash," says Dr. Reddy. "There are patients who are infected with the virus and have no symptoms, some who may develop mild cold symptoms with no rash."
Dr. Reddy explains that those people with blood-cell diseases (such as sickle cell disease) who become infected with the virus will sometimes stop producing red blood cells entirely for a few days, possibly causing anemia in those patients.
At the time the red face appears, there are usually muscle aches and fever. Frequently in adults, especially women, there is severe joint pain.
"I had a rash over my whole body," says Paula Macdonald of London, Ontario, Canada. "My body ached. I had flu-like symptoms, and I had the worst joint pain I ever had in my life. It felt like someone had broken my ankles."
Macdonald, like many other adults, found that the absolute worst symptom of the illness was the debilitating joint pain. Swelling and pain in the joints attributed to fifth disease has lasted from a few months to more than four years in some patients.
Lori Keenan from Evanston, Ill., was living in London, England, when her son contracted the disease. Keenan soon was affected as well. "When I got it, it started out as an all-over rash, then a splitting headache," says Keenan. "By the next morning I couldn't hold my baby because my hands were so arthritic. My husband was also at home with the same arthritic symptoms."
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