Rash Rules!

Nancy and her mom got back to Bismarck today at around 2:30. They came bearing gifts and when the kids got home it was pretty much like Christmas. I think each one had at least five gifts. Now they just went out shopping again. Did someone win the lottery and not tell me? Kidding!

Nancy mentioned in her post on Tuesday about me going to the walk-in clinic to have the boy's rash looked at. Donovan came home from school that day with rash on just his forearms. Gerrit had been having (since Sunday) a flushed face and itchy cheeks along with itchy and red forearms. They had played outside quite a while on Sunday so my initial thought was some sunburn. Gerrit came home on Tuesday, though, with the rash spread to his upper arms, chest, and back.

I took some photos of the rashes and emailed them to Nancy. She took a look and we decided I should take them in to the Medcenter One walk-in clinic. I took Samantha with and left Aleah alone at home with the instructions to stay in the basement and not to answer the door.

We had been in the waiting room for only about five minutes when they called us in, explaining that with the rash they wanted us separated from the other kids. Made good sense. They were busy and we had to wait a long time in the exam room- first for the CNA to come in for vitals/interview and then for the doctor. I don't mind the waiting, but Samantha and Donovan got restless and it was hard to keep them quiet and in order. The Medcenter One staff were great and all apologized for the wait.

The doctor thought it was most likely a strep rash and wanted Gerrit to get a throat swab for testing. (Donovan had just been tested with a positive result the previous Friday.) Gerrit has a pretty strong gag reflex so I was a little worried.

The nurse came in a little later and explained the procedure, but since Gerrit had had it done before she went ahead with the first attempt.

I think Gerrit was gagging before she even had the swab past his tongue, plus he pulled away. She decided to do another to make sure to get a good swab. This time she also used a tongue depressor and instructed him to make sure not to pull away. Worked good - she did a great job with Gerrit.

The nurse called later in the evening to let us know the test was negative for strep. That was good news but I wondered what the rash was if it wasn't strep related.

My parents came to Bismarck the next day and Samantha and I met them for lunch. My mom wondered if the rash could be fifth disease. I looked it up online and it does appear as though that could be the situation. Gerrit's rash is much worse than Donovan's and Donovan's has mostly gone away.

Fifth disease is a viral infection affecting mostly kids and should clear up with time. Sounds like the rash could last 1 to 3 weeks. In doing research it looks like doctors typically refer to the disease as parvovirus infection and some in the general public also refer to it as "slapped cheek disease" because of the flushed cheeks.

From one of the web sites I visited on the topic, I found that fifth disease got its name because it was fifth on a late 1800's list of childhood illnesses associated with rashes. Some others on the list were later named measles, scarlet fever, and rubella.