Description
Fifth disease is a mild viral infection caused by human parvovirus B19. It’s more common in children than adults. It’s called fifth disease because it was fifth on a list of illnesses that caused rashes in children in the past. Fifth disease is sometimes called “slapped cheek disease.” The illness’s bright red rash on the face looks like the child has been slapped. About half of people get fifth fth disease is a mild viral infection caused by human parvovirus B19. It’s more common in children than adults. It’s called fifth disease because it was fifth on a list of illnesses that caused rashes in children in the past. Fifth disease is sometimes called “slapped cheek disease.” The illness’s bright red rash on the face looks like the child has been slapped. About half of people get fifth disease sometime during childhood or their teens. Once you’ve had it, you are unlikely to be at risk of getting it again.





Transmission
Parvovirus B19—which causes fifth disease—spreads through respiratory secretions, such as saliva, sputum, or nasal mucus, when an infected person coughs or sneezes. You are most contagious when it seems like you have “just a fever and/or cold” and before you get the rash or joint pain and swelling. After you get the rash you are not likely to be contagious, so it is usually safe for you or your child to go back to work or school.

People with fifth disease who have weakened immune systems may be contagious for a longer amount of time.

Parvovirus B19 can also spread through blood or blood products. A pregnant woman who is infected with parvovirus B19 can pass the virus to her baby.

Once you recover from fifth disease, you develop immunity that generally protects you from parvovirus B19 infection in the future.

What is the pathophysiology of Fifth Disease?
Human PV-B19, a member of the family Parvoviridae, is a heat-stable, single-stranded DNA virus. It is the only parvovirus known to cause disease in humans.

The development of erythema infectiosum in children is a normal response to infection by PV-B19. Acute infection in a host who is immunocompetent leads to a Th-1–mediated cellular immune response, with the production of specific immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies and subsequent formation of immune complexes. Clinical signs and symptoms of erythema infectiosum probably result from the deposition of the immune complexes in the skin and joints of individuals with this condition and not from the circulating virus. The incubation period is usually 7-10 days, but it can be 4-21 days. Extremely high viral loads are noted in patients with aplastic crisis, but low-level persistent polymerase chain reaction positivity in tissues is also common among adults in a variety of tissues.

Causes of Fifth Disease

Click via this link below and read more Thank you...
https://www.brainyscienceacedemy.com/2022/03/all-about-fifth-disease.html