Parvo is not just for dogs

This week my nephew came home to something like this.  Don't watch the video if you have a weak stomach. His best friend had Parvo.

My boys got Parvo too. The good news is that people don't get the same Parvo as dogs do, and it's not transmitted between animals and humans.  Never the less Parvo sucks.

This is how it starts. You child starts with flu like symptoms.

Lazy, achy, fever and miserable. Very sad when you see a baby/child this way. My four year old vomited. All the kids had a cough. This lasted about three to five days.

Then you get a lovely rash on your face that looks like someone slapped you. Parvo is sometimes called Slap Cheek because of this syptom. This is also when you are no longer contagious.

The rash starts in the face and falls down the body. Almost like gravity is pulling it. The face begins to heal and then the arms get blotchy, followed by the legs. It can itch but my kids where itch free.

Parvovirus/SlapCheek/Fifth disease is a common childhood illness. Your Child will not have symptoms of your dog with pools of blood and will go back to normal as soon as their body finishes fighting off the virus. However it can be dangerous to people with compromised immune systems or woman that are pregnant. My poor sweet pregnant baby sitter had to have two blood tests. The first one she already has done and she has to have a second in two weeks. I guess it's going around since we were not the only family she has been around that has had it recently. About 50% of adults don't get this illness since they most-likely were exposed as a child.

Here's a link to the official website in case you wanted more than a Mom's version of this rotten childhood illness.

http://www.fifthdisease.org/