Parvo Virus?

[best-of-86.livejournal.com]

Hi, I'm visiting my cousin, and yesterday she miscarried. It's been very hard on all of us (it was completely unexpected), and the doctor said she came down with Parvo Virus (sp?). We just thought she had the flu. She was only three weeks pregnant.

I'm concerned because I'd never heard of this virus before and definitely didn't know it could cause someone to lose her baby. The doctor said about 10% of the women who get it while pregnant miscarry and others had pregnancy complications.

Has anyone else ever heard of this? Anyone else experience it?

(x-posted a few places)

Comments

[applehazelnut.livejournal.com]

Human Papilloma Virus causes genital warts. It's why you get a pap smear. I don't know. I guess if she got it on her cervix or something, it's conceivable that she may miscarry if the cervix can't stay shut or something...

[best-of-86.livejournal.com]

it's not Papilloma virus, it's Parvo virus, which I've never heard of...

[applehazelnut.livejournal.com]

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/revb/respiratory/B19&preg.htm

Usually, there is no serious complication for a pregnant woman or her baby because of exposure to a person with fifth disease. About 50% of women are already immune to parvovirus B19, and these women and their babies are protected from infection and illness. Even if a woman is susceptible and gets infected with parvovirus B19, she usually experiences only a mild illness. Likewise, her unborn baby usually does not have any problems attributable to parvovirus B19 infection.

Sometimes, however, parvovirus B19 infection will cause the unborn baby to have severe anemia and the woman may have a miscarriage. This occurs in less than 5% of all pregnant women who are infected with parvovirus B19 and occurs more commonly during the first half of pregnancy. There is no evidence that parvovirus B19 infection causes birth defects or mental retardation.

[snapdragon-666.livejournal.com]

Sorry to hear about that here's some information.
http://www.womens-health.co.uk/parvo.htm
Having the 'flu probably would have been equally as devastating. I hope she's ok.

[snapdragon-666.livejournal.com]

Mentally add a full stop between 'that' and 'here's'.

[best-of-86.livejournal.com]

thanks, it's scary stuff :/

[snapdragon-666.livejournal.com]

It is. I hope your cousin feels better soon and i hope this won't affect her chances of having more children.

[maiden-midwife.livejournal.com]

I am really sorry to hear that your cousin miscarried. The cause of her miscarriage is not necessarily the virus though. Many women become pregnant and then miscarry without ever having known they were pregnant in the 3rd or 4th week of pregnancy. That is why some midwives believe that early detection pregnancy tests do women a disservice by letting them know that they are pregnant before the implanting zygote has a good hold. This can be especially upsetting if the woman really wants to be pregnant. One third of all fertilized eggs fail to implant, meaning that a pregnancy never actually occurred. 1 in 4 pregnancies end in miscarriage, but it is hard to know how many end before the 4th week, because as I said, many women miscarry without having known they were pregnant. Sometimes the miscarriage at that stage will not be much different than a normal period.

[best-of-86.livejournal.com]

that's good to know, I had no idea.

In a way I guess it's a blessing that it happened so early on because if it had happened in a few months, the pain might have been unbearable

I was msotly surprised that this common childhood disease can be so destructive to a pregnant woman. I've never had it myself, so I'm not any more immune than she was, so I'm worried. The chances are small, I don't want to join that 5%, and I don't think anyone else does either. I wish we could ahve done something ahead of time

[maiden-midwife.livejournal.com]

Not only would the physical pain have been much worse, but the emotional pain would have been worse too. A woman's emotional connection to her baby grows quickly as the baby grows.

I had never heard of Parvo virus except for in Dogs. It is obviously an entirely different infection in animals. Well, now that she is infected she will develop immunity after her recovery. During any subsequent pregnancy she will not have to worry about the disease affecting her baby. When you are ready to have children, you may want to get checked to find out if you are immune, etc. like it says on the link that applehazelnut posted. It's too bad there is no sure way of preventing the disease if you aren't immune.

[winterdeep.livejournal.com]

I am really sorry to hear that.

Before trying to conceive again she should also be vaccinated for german measles if she has not already. Another childhood disease that can be destructive during pregnancy.

[mylittleaadvark.livejournal.com]

'Slapped-cheek syndrome' and 'fifth disease' are two other names for it. It's one of those things that's quite common and harmless in kids, but gets more serious if you get it as an adult. My ex-girlfriend had it - didn't pass it on to me, thankfully - she had a facial rash and aching joints, but nothing more serious.

Oh - here's a site about it that looks quite good - http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/en.asp?TopicID=604&AreaID=3804&LinkID=2879

[mylittleaadvark.livejournal.com]

That's "quite harmless", not "harmless", and "quite" as in "fairly", not "very". Obviously no illness is completely harmless.

[fornicate-me.livejournal.com]

hi, i had parvo virus, its highly contagious, you can get it from kittens/puppies, any small animal, and its contagious from person to person, make sure that your cousin is on antibiodics.