User:Mr. Ibrahem/Fifth disease

Fifth disease, also known as erythema infectiosum, is a type of viral infection that most commonly occurs in children. The most common symptoms are a low grade fever and rash. Other symptoms may include joint pain, diarrhea, runny nose, vomiting, and headache. The rash generally starts in the latter part of the infection, involves the cheeks and spreads to chest and arms. One in five have no symptoms. Complications may include aplastic anemia, pain in multiple joints, and during pregnancy hydrops fetalis.

It is caused by infection by parvovirus B19. It is typically spread via the respiratory route, though may also spread from mother to child during pregnancy and via blood transfusions. Diagnosis is usually based on the symptoms, though it may be confirmed with blood tests.

Treatment is symptomatic and supportive which may include paracetamol (acetaminophen) and NSAIDs. Symptoms generally last for 1 to 3 weeks. After recovery people generally do not get the disease again.

Fifth disease is common and typically occurs in those between the ages of 5 and 15. Early descriptions of the disease data from at least 1889 by Tschamer and maybe as early as 1799 by Robert Willan. In 1905 it was classified as the "fifth rash disease" in the standard list of rash-causing childhood diseases.