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Fifths Disease? Remicade

H's twin was dx a couple of weeks ago with fifths disease. Not a big deal for him as it is a common childhood illness.

per kidshealth.org
Complications
The majority of kids with fifth disease recover with no complications. By the time the rash appears and while it's present, they usually feel well and are back to their normal activities.
However, some children with weakened immune systems (such as those with AIDS or leukemia) or with certain blood disorders (like sickle cell anemia or hemolytic anemia) may become significantly ill when infected with parvovirus B19. Parvovirus B19 can temporarily slow down or stop the body's production of the oxygen-carrying red blood cells (RBCs), causing anemia.
When a child is healthy, this slowdown of RBC production usually goes unnoticed because it doesn't affect overall health. But some kids who are already anemic can become sick if their RBC production is further affected by the virus. The RBC levels may drop dangerously low, affecting the supply of oxygen to the body's tissues.

After reading this, I was a little concerned since H is on remicade (and aza at the time). I called the GI clinic and the nurse indicated that it was ok since he did not have a "weakened immune system" but a suppressed one.

At H's appt with the GI last week, we discussed that his Hgb was slightly low at 11.8. Also another marker indicated he was fighting something. I mentioned that his twin was dx with fifths and I had a cold the prior week. The GI was okay with the numbers since he was feeling well and attributed it to fighting off the illnesses in our home, but not coming down with anything.
Now I am looking at his blood tests and his RBC has dropped along with the Hgb.

Do you think I should be concerned? H does not show any signs of fifths at this time, the incubation period is 4 to 28 days and 50% of the time other family members get it. Could fifths be behind the couple of numbers that were off.
 

crohnsinct

Well-known member
Gee IDK...I think it was good you called even though there really isn't anything you could do about fifth's disease short of send him to live out of the house which really isn't an option...or is it:shifty-t:

I think the GI and nurse's comfort with the situation would make me feel comfortable as well. When is his next infusion and blood test? O is on a 5 week schedule and I have to admit that is one thing I like about Remicade...frequent blood results so things are caught super fast.

FWIW along the same lines - my niece was visiting for Thanksgiving and was getting sicker by the hour. They stayed the night and next day she had 104 temp.They went home and to doc and she has the flu. Their doc suggested I call ours to see if they wanted to do preventative Tamiflu script I called and they said they would prescibe it but be aware that it usually causes GI issues, D, nausea, stomach pain...I opted not to do it. Her infusion schedule ends Monday and infusion is Thursday and we have already seen blood so I didn't want to tempt the situation. They did however ask us to call at first signs of flu and get script right away.

Good luck. Fingers crossed here he escapes the Fifths!
 
@crohnsinct--thanks for the thoughts. Once the rash appears, they are no longer contagious, so there was no protecting H either in or out of the house. H's next infusion is 7 more weeks out so there will not be any new numbers until the new year,

Fingers crossed that O stays healthy and escapes the flu.
 
Don't think we ever stop worrying do we? I would have to agree with Crohnsinct - if the GI didn't seem particularly worried, then I would try not to worry too much either. Maybe he was just fighting a normal virus/cold if you also had a cold. Hope he manages to avoid catching it!
 

my little penguin

Moderator
Staff member
Hugs...
It is hard when someone else comes down with something and then you read the" Internet ".
It's good your Gi is aware of it. First sign of illness they will react I am sure.
When DS was on 6-mp / allopurinol in the spring DH came down with shingles.
I am not sure if he was on pred or not. DS of course had two bug bites on his arm within two days of DH 's dx.
Lets just say I now know they will spring into action if needed.
The oncall ped has us take photos , they drew blood for titers to chicken pox , talked with infectious disease specialist at the hospital and talked with his GI.
It was a rough couple of days watching since the preventative meds could have done more harm if he wasn't infected. We did not need to take the preventative med since he was fine but still scary.
I think as long as your Gi knows and they told you when to bring him in that is the best you can do right now.

Hugs
 
Oh, something I know.:ywow:
When I was a pre-school teacher we had an outbreak of this.
I had never even heard of it.:shifty:
Neither had the Parents.
All the kids did well and for the most part were happy.
Which made the Parents mad because we had to have them stay out for so long.:voodoo:
Your right, when the rash appearers it's to late.:blush:
 
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