fifth disease during pregnancy

[dakjilsim]

Help.  I'm 14 weeks and just found out my son has fifth's disease.  Unfortunately, I'm not immune which means I could get it and pass it to the baby.  Has this happened to anyone?  I know the greatest risk is between 14-20 weeks of pregnancy so I'm freaking out to say the least.  

Any thoughts are appreciated.  

[CYW]

i am a little confused...you say your son has 5th disease but then you say you aren't immune and you COULD pass it to the baby.. so which is it.. are you not immune and the baby is at risk or is the baby positive for 5th disease????I had no immunization to rubella during pregnancy, I know they are in the same particular family and i was not able to be with children because not every child is immunized(however if they were immunized i was fine) adults wont tend to get it apparently.. it is more common with children, hence why its important to stay away from non-immunized children.. i had to withdraw from my college placement because i had to be with kids..and they couldnt request to know if they were immunized or not...i was very angry.. i had 1 month left and now i have to restart the 4 months which i am beginning on sept 2nd...

I found this on a site...

I've recently been exposed to a child with fifth disease. How will this affect my pregnancy?   Go to top of page

Usually, there is no serious complication for a pregnant woman or her baby because of exposure to a person with fifth disease. About 50% of women are already immune to parvovirus B19, and these women and their babies are protected from infection and illness. Even if a woman is susceptible and gets infected with parvovirus B19, she usually experiences only a mild illness. Likewise, her unborn baby usually does not have any problems attributable to parvovirus B19 infection.

Sometimes, however, parvovirus B19 infection will cause the unborn baby to have severe anemia and the woman may have a miscarriage. This occurs in less than 5% of all pregnant women who are infected with parvovirus B19 and occurs more commonly during the first half of pregnancy. There is no evidence that parvovirus B19 infection causes birth defects or mental retardation.

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/revb/respiratory/B19&preg.htm

What risk does parvovirus B19 infection pose to the fetus?
Fetal infection is rare. However, when a fetus does become infected, the virus can disrupt its ability to produce red blood cells, sometimes leading to a dangerous form of anemia that can result in heart failure. Up to 6 percent of infected fetuses die (3). Fetal deaths are more likely when a pregnant woman contracts the infection in the first 20 weeks of pregnancy (1).

Fifth disease in pregnancy has not been proven to cause other birth defects (2)

http://www.marchofdimes.com/professionals/14332_25586.asp

just google no immunization to fifth disease during pregnancy.. i think for the next 6 weeks just lay low, wash your hands alot, the typical things...i think from the sites i have seen it's rare but IF it were to happen everything could be okay or not it's 50/50...

i dont think there is no way to know if the baby has it unless you contracted the infection then there would be that possibility of passing it to the baby but they cant do the testing until the baby is born.. try not to stress so much:)

[dakjilsim]

My 4 year old son has it.  They tested my blood when I first got pregnant this time and found that I was not immune.  I have never been exposed to it before.  So I could potentially get infected and thus pass it along to my unborn child.  I've done a lot of reseach about it on line and I was just hoping for a little reassurance from someone who has been in a similar situation.  I basically have to wait it out for the next couple of months and have blood drawn every 2 weeks to see if I get infected.  

[tiredbuthappy]

sounds like you are already doing what my advice would be- which is to let your ob know asap and follow his/her recommendations.

unfortunately, by the time your son was diagnosed, you were most likely exposed for several days. fifths is one of those sneaky viruses that can't be diagnosed until the tell-tale rash appears, and that rash doesn't appear until after the child is no longer contagious. i am sure you have read all the statistics, so you know that in most cases, even if you did get it, you and the baby would be fine. 3 years back, i had a child in my class whose mother did get fifths while pregnant with him. this was during the third trimester. they had a very rough time, and she was hospitalized. the good news is that both survived in good health in the long run. i'm not telling you this to scare you- just to illustrate that the outcome can be positive even in the worst case scenario. if you are getting blood drawn every 2 weeks, i am confident that you are receiving good care. at least you know what to look for.