You say he got his cheek slapped?

Monday afternoon I was checking my voicemail after I got out of school.  I had a message from the preschool saying that Micah had developed a rash on his cheek, his chest, and his upper arm.  They called it slap cheek.  I immediately called John so that he could Google what that was since I wasn’t near a computer.

John called me back to tell me that Slapped Cheek was also called Fifth Disease.  It was named Fifth Disease because it was the fifth of six childhood illnesses associated with rashes.  Later on, some of the other illnesses were renamed Measles, Scarlet Fever, and Rubella. 

The rash comes on pretty quick, and it really looks like the child has just gotten slapped on the cheek.  Micah had no sign of any rash when I had gotten him dressed that morning.  Apparently, Fifth Disease is really contagious.  The problem is that the period when the disease is contagious the child just feels a little malaise or a general sense of not feeling well.  The rash doesn’t show up until after the contagious period is over.  The school told me that a couple of weeks ago another child had gotten Fifth Disease as well.

The clinic is always really good at getting the boys an appointment quickly when they have been sick.  Once I told them what the school said Micah had, they actually triple booked the doctor so we could get in.

We saw the doctor and he confirmed that it was Fifth Disease.  Unfortunately, since it is viral, antibiotics don’t help.  But he did say that we caught it early.  All we can do is to give him fluids and Tylenol.  He said the rash would last 4 or 5 days. 

Since then, the rash has lightened on his face and chest and back, but this morning, I noticed it had spread to his thighs.  The doctor had warned us that this would happen.  He has also been fighting a fever and aches and pains.  Everything we’ve read says that it will be over soon.  The poor little guy has been a real trooper through all of this.  A mama always hates to see her little ones sick.