
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 9, 1990                   TAG: 9005090634
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-4   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: MCLEAN                                LENGTH: Short

PREGNANT TEACHERS AVOID RASH PROBLEM

Two pregnant teachers at an elementary school have taken administrative leave because some students at the school contracted a contagious skin rash that can be dangerous to pregnant women.

The malady - called fifth disease or erythema infectiosum - is not dangerous to children and simply causes a redness on the cheeks that spreads to the rest of the body in a matter of days, said Dr. Earl Virts, regional medical director for the state Department of Health.

But the rash can endanger the fetus in the early stages of pregnancy if the mother catches the virus.

Fifth disease was so named because it's the fifth most common childhood rash. Many children who get it aren't taken to the doctor, and physicians rarely go to the trouble and expense to order the blood tests necessary for a diagnosis.

The virus is spread through sneezing and coughing. Some doctors say pregnant teachers shouldn't be in the same building with any suspected cases.

- Associated Press

by CNB