Two years ago my husband got “Fifth Disease” from our granddaughter. It’s a very mild childhood disease that most kids get and it usually goes unnoticed, with very few symptoms. But boy did it make my husband sick.
Several friends had children with Fifth Disease this summer. My wife then came down with this a month ago with severe sore throat and head and chest cold symptoms and subsequently developed a severe acute viral polyarthritis a week later. The pain in her knees and ankles was so excruciating that for several days she couldn't even walk. At this point the polyarthritis is 80% resolved but she still has joint pain. Now I'm coming down with severe head and chest cold symptoms and sore throat. Yuck.
I had the fifth disease my junior year of high school. Home with a temperature of 104 for a week (Mom was an R.N.). Finally landed in the hospital for an IV. Missed 6 weeks of school.