Abby Parks had never heard of parvovirus when she began feeling flu-like symptoms in late April, followed by joint pain and a rash. Parks, 27, a special education teacher in Springfield, Illinois, was about 18 weeks pregnant and had been feeling very sick with a fever for days, but tests for Covid and strep came back negative. The school nurse, who had been seeing students with “really rosy, red cheeks,” suggested Parks might have the same infection.
“I got progressively sicker,” she said. “I was in bed with a fever for four or five full days.” When blood tests given by her OB-GYN came back positive for parvovirus B19 in early May, she was referred to a maternal fetal medicine specialist.
The doctor discovered the virus had passed to the fetus in utero. The fetus had developed anemia, a very dangerous condition. Doctors gave the fetus a blood transfusion in utero.
Cases of parvovirus B19 — more commonly known as Fifth disease or “slapped cheek syndrome” because of the red rash that covers an infected patient’s face — are rising in the U.S. On Tuesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an alert to doctors to watch for signs of the highly contagious seasonal virus.
Most of the infections are among children ages 5 to 9, the CDC said. Since March, parvovirus has been circulating in Europe at unusually high rates, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. Most adults have already had the infection as kids and are.