June 14, 2005

Well, that explains that.

All that irritability Catherine had last week. The unpredictable bouts of torpor, the forehead that was inexplicably hot. The rash that suddenly appeared on her tummy and neck this morning and then spread all the way to her legs by the time Reba got her to Granny's house.

Reba just called from the doctor's office--yep, Fifth Disease. Catherine's had it before, and probably picked it up this time from a certain sick kid at church who, despite a spotty attendance record, still seems to manage to show up when he's contagious with stuff.

It's really a crappy ailment. By the time the rash shows up, you aren't contagious anymore, but you've been contagious for the previous days. And the symptoms are hard to pinpoint, because kids sometimes act grouchy and sometimes run slight fevers and sometimes become real tired, all for no reason. And the biggest crappiness is the name. I mean, come on--Fifth Disease!? It DOES have other names such as parvovirus B19 and erythema infectiosum, so it's not like it HAS to have such a pedestrian name. Then again, Chanel No. 5 does okay for itself, so maybe I'm just overreacting.

Anyway, I suppose I'll have to modify tomorrow's Toothbrush Story to include a tale of unavoidable viral infection.

Posted by Terry Oglesby at June 14, 2005 02:55 PM
Comments

I've never heard of it. Maybe my mother called it a rash.

Posted by: Janis at June 14, 2005 03:12 PM

Well, you might just not have ever had it. I don't ever recall having had it as a youngster, either.

Posted by: Terry Oglesby at June 14, 2005 03:17 PM

I knew a few cases of pregnant women having it, and my friend's son seems to get it frequently.

We've started swimming at the Y, and last summer my friend's kid kept getting UTIs. So I hope we don't have the same problem.

Hope she gets better.

Posted by: InsanePreschoolMom at June 14, 2005 11:10 PM