Fifth Disease (aka Slapped Cheek Disease)

Fifth disease seems go be going around these days in Ottawa.  The official medical name is erythema infectiosum.  It is a viral infection caused by parvovirus B19 and is called fifth disease because it was the fifth on the list of common childhood rashes - the others being rubella, measles, scarlet fever,

chicken pox and roseola infantum (sixth disease).  It is also known as Slapped-cheek disease because of the characteristic initial symptom of a red cheek (or two).

Fifth disease is usually mild and is spread by coughs or sneezes through respiratory droplets.  It poses little risk to healthy children and adults.  Those who are more at risk of complications are pregnant women and people with certain types of chronic anemia.  (See your doctor if this is your situation.)

Symptoms include:  low-grade fever; chills; headache; body ache;  sore throat; cold-like symptoms; runny nose. There can also be an upset stomach and diarrhea. These aforementioned symptoms usually appear first.  Then the rash appears.  The rash can appear first on the cheeks and then it spreads to the torso, arms and legs. The rash can be itchy.  The rash can last for up to six weeks but generally only lasts for about two weeks.  Adults are less likely to have the rash and more likely to have swollen painful joints.  By the time the rash appears the child is no longer contagious.  The incubation period is usually anywhere between 4-14 days and can on occasion be as long as 21 days in length.

Here is a table of useful homeopathic remedies for fifth disease.

Natural treatment for ear infections

I got an email late last Saturday afternoon from a distraught parent.  He had just been at a walk-in clinic with his daughter who had been found to have not just one, but two ear infections.  The doctor wanted this baby to take a ten-day course of antibiotics to which the father inquired as to the necessity of antibiotics in this case.  The doctor was adamant that the baby needed antibiotics.  Given the father's reluctance to put his daughter on the antibiotics, unless absolutely necessary, he contacted me - hence the email late on a Saturday afternoon.  I had already treated this child in the past so I already had some knowledge of this patient which made treating this child quickly on an acute basis easier.  I took down the details of this baby's particular symptoms and as I have a well-stocked homeopathic pharmacy in-house I could provide the father with the remedy that best fit the unique and specific symptoms this baby had in relation to the ear infections.  I gave the man two other remedies to hold, just in case the first one didn't do the trick.  With homeopathy it can at times take a few tries to get the right remedy so it is good in an acute situation like this to provide a second and perhaps third option to have on hand.  I asked the father to let me know on the Sunday morning how the baby was doing.  I didn't hear back so in the afternoon I emailed to inquire about the baby.  The father said they had been out all day and that the baby seemed fine.  No other remedies were needed. This was a great case of being able to help a patient to heal naturally from an ear infection without having to resort to the use of antibiotics.  I am certainly not against the use of antibiotics when necessary.  However,  I would prefer to try to help a patient using homeopathic remedies as the first form of treatment and to reserve antibiotics as a last resort.   There is, in fact, evidence that the effectiveness of antibiotics for ear infections is very limited - despite this fact, they are far too often prescribed when they are not necessary.  Furthermore, the side-effects of such medications can lead to undesirable issues such as diarrhoea and skin rashes.  Why not avoid these possible side-effects unless absolutely necessary?  I told the father, on I agreeing to take his daughter's acute case, that he would have to observe the child closely and be responsible to administer the antibiotic if the homeopathic remedies weren't helping and if he observed a worsening of the situation.  Fortunately this baby rebounded quickly with the aid of a well-prescribed homeopathic remedy and she could avoid taking an unnecessary course of antibiotics.