An increase is being observed in the number of Fifth Disease cases in Bulgaria and in Europe

Significant increase in cases of fifth disease is reported in Europe. In Bulgaria, nearly 50 cases have been confirmed since the beginning of the year at the National Centre for Infectious and Parasitic Diseases, in comparison to 10 cases for the whole of last year.

The boom in the spread of the disease tends to be in spring and summer. People who are infected develop flu-like symptoms - fever, fatigue, joint pain. It may take several days for a skin rash to appear.

"It starts in the area of the child's face, a rash that makes a child's cheeks bright red. That's why it's sometimes called a "slapped cheek" rash. A few days later, the rash spreads down to the trunk, arms, and legs. It does not itch and basically the skin irritations subside in a week," explained Miroslava Mihova, dermatologist.

The virus of Fifth Disease is spread mostly by respiratory droplets, when an infected person coughs or sneezes, the virus can spread to another person who is close by. The infection occurs before the rash appears. The disease is not life-threatening in most cases.

"The disease may cause complications for people who have malignancies or other causes of breakdown in immunity. In healthy children and adults, fifth disease very rarely causes complications. Children and adults who are otherwise healthy usually recover completely," said Miroslava Mihova.

"It can also affect older people If they have a damaged immune system, the nfection may cause serious complications such as anaemia, polyarthritis, cardiovascular failure," explained Prof. Iva Hristova, Director of the National Centre for Infectious and Parasitic Diseases,

Several days ago, In Thessaloniki, a 3.5-year-old child passed away after developing acute myocarditis due to the fifth disease.

"In rare cases when people have weakened immune system or in chronic diseases like this, it can be quite severe - with severe anemia and with cardiovascular failure. That's in the characteristic of the disease. The child in Greece died after developing myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle, which unfortunately could not be controlled," explained Prof. Iva Hristova.

The disease can pose risks for pregnant women as it can be passed from mother to foetus.

"More than 50% of pregnant women have antibodies, i.e. they have had this disease, they are immune. It is enough to have been sick once to have immunity for life. So they are protected and somewhere so statistically, the risk is for about 10% of pregnant women," Prof. Hristova.

The disease is called fifth disease because it is the fifth of six common childhood illnesses that can cause rashes.

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