Any teachers on the forum... Slap cheek?

[Linzz30]

There has been an outbreak of Slap Cheek at my school. A boy in my class was sent home first thing on Thursday morning because I am pregnant and not at 20 weeks yet. I hadn't heard of it before! I stayed at school because I didn't think there would be any problem. Turns out about 5 other pupils (different classes) have slap cheek as well but didn't get sent home as they weren't in my class. The head teacher wasn't in on Thursday and wasn't aware of the outbreak - it was one of the receptionists who alerted the wee boys mum who then took him home.

Spoke to the midwife and my GP that lunchtime, they both said I shouldn't be in close contact with any children who might have the virus. The midwife sent my blood tests to be analysed and I should find out if I'm immune to it in a week or so.

I text the head teacher on Thursday night asking what I should do and she told me not to come in on Friday and to keep her posted. My question is - should I be staying off school or is there a low risk of contracting slap cheek? Most of the teachers at school said I should be fine to be at school and it wasn't a big deal. Some even said it's an old wives tale and if I listened to every pregnancy "problem" I wouldn't leave the house. One said that if I was that worried I should be worried about being at the shops / down the street catching it off someone who walks past! (I think though, there is a difference between passing someone in the street and being in a room of 30 pupils every day who might just have it).

So really I'm worried if anyone else has known about / experienced this and if they were to stay off work until it was sorted? My sister had 4 miscarriages and my mum is very anxious about this happening to me. The school frowns upon people being off sick. But if they immediately sent a child home (like, at 9.10am!!) for being in my class then isn't that something to worry about?

Thanks for any responses
L xxxxx

 

[babydevil1989]

my son woke up with red cheeks this morning so i was worried about slap cheek - i read that it can cause miscarriage before 20 weeks so if it was me i would stay off work!

i think most people who contract it during pregnancy are fine but its not really worth the risk xx

 

[Linzz30]

Thank you, hope you and your son are okay, do you know if you're immune to it? xx

 

[babydevil1989]

im not sure whether i am or not or whether he has it lol - theres not much i can do if i have it anyway so il see the dr on monday xxxx

 

[mommatoabeaut]

you need to go and get a blood test done to see if your immune to it.
my friend recently miscarried and her daughter had slap cheek.

 

[babydevil1989]

i cant get a blood test til monday anyway and im fairly sure iv had it before x

 

[Linzz30]

How awful for your friend Going to try & stay away then. Waiting for results of blood test. Have made a plan - I work part time so if I need to be off next week I'm going to use it to get caught up on as much work / planning as I can then suggest I work full time for the following few weeks. Hate being off, only 9 weeks to go until the end of term and soooooo much to do! xxx

 

[d_b]

I'd stay off work if I were you. Well, I depending on the results of your blood test. My doctor said most people are immune, but my tests showed I am not.. Slap cheek is the one thing my doctor said to avoid as it can damage the fetus. Like any contagious illness you wont necessarily get it if you come into contact with it but better safe than sorry!

 

[angelandbump]

Your doing the right thing being off. It's not worth the risk at your gestation. Xx

 

[Bubcoming]

Definitely stay away. I'm not immune and my ob said that if I come in contact or anyone has it at my sons school to contact him straight away. If you get it any you are not immune my ob told me that we many need to do a transfusion of the baby. I am also 20 wks.

Not worth it, stay away until you get dr okay.

 

[jess_1984]

Hi it's not an old wives tale it can be really serious. I would say stay off until your test results, can they not hurry them up? Like others have said most people are immune so you will probably be fine but no point putting yourself at risk by going in xxx

 

[Willow01]

Hey Linzz I am a teacher and was in the same situation as you a few months ago. I was 14 weeks pregnant at the time and a child in another class came in with the slapped cheek symptoms, sent home by school & his mum reported it to be diagnosed by the doc as slapped cheek. I spoke to my GP & midwife that day who both informed me not to return to work until my blood had been tested for immunity, 5 days later I found out I didn't have any! Because of having no immunity and the severe problems the virus can cause to babies under 20 weeks I was signed off work until I reached 20 weeks(more cases then spread to other children in school so glad that I stayed away!). I am now 28 weeks pregnant, having returned to work at 21 weeks, and have my blood tested every month for the virus by my midwife. Please go and get your blood tested ASAP, if you have immunity you are safe to return to work but if you don't the risks are not worth it. A consultant at the hospital I visited after finding out I had no immunity said that you need to have been exposed to someone with the virus for at least 10 minutes to have a chance of contracting it and unborn babies bodies often just aren't strong enough to cope with the attack of the virus before 20 weeks. There is a thread in the gestation complications section about slapped cheek and it follows a woman's story of having contracted it and how she handled it. As far as work goes, there was nothing in local authority policy about how to deal with situations like this and to begin with they were not too supportive. However once more cases developed they did say to me it was the right thing to do to stay away (eh yes that was a no brainer for me!) I wasn't concerned about that though, I had the backing of my GP and they couldn't argue with that!

et us know how you get on and good luckxx

 

[amjon]

Do NOT go back until you find out if you're immune. I was exposed in my first pregnancy. 3 weeks later she died suddenly and still don't have a definite answer with Slapped Cheek being one possibility. It is only contagious before the rash so you wouldn't know if someone else was coming down with it until too late.

 

[makemeamammy]

I'm in exactly the same boat as you hun! Found out last Monday it was going round and, like you, didn't think much of it. Had my scan that day so mentioned it to the consultant who told me how serious it is - transfusion through the umbilical cord, only some babies respond, can lead to miscarriage etc. She told me to stay away until I found out if I was immune. I found out on Friday I'm not and more children in school have been diagnosed with it. I have an appointment with doc on Monday to find out what that means about returning to work so I can let you know what they say but my head said on Friday she would be surprised if I was back before summer!

It feels so strange being off work and not being ill but it is not worth the risk to your baby. The way I think about it is if my baby was in my arms and a doctor told me by walking into a room with him/her that he/she could contract a life threatening illness I wouldn't do it in a million years! When you think about it like that it's a no-brainer.

Keep me posted with how you get on over next week and I will too since we are in same position. Where abouts are you based by the way? I'm in Scotland xx

 

[hollie87]

Completely agree with the other ladies, my daughter has recently had slapped cheek and whilst the majority of adults have already had it and are immune, it's not worth the risk, wait until you have your blood results to return

 

[HGsurvivor05]

Oh me what a day!! Think one of my pre- schoolers has slap cheek!! Phoned midwife who wasn't too concerned and said I can get appointment to have bloods to check my immunity to it as cant think if I have had it before, I have worked with lots of kids who have had it but now I am freaked out and read too much negative things on it especially in early pregnancy. Anyway called to get bloods and have to wait till Tuesday I did explain but nothing else available aaaaahhhhgggg

Anyone else ever come across slap cheek in previous pregnancy I take it you have to get actual virus for it to be a threat??

On positive did get nice chat with midwife but am a bit worried that she didn't give clear options I.e you must get bloods etc as read on threads here that midwifed have expressed seriousness of slap cheek. Other issue is no one knows at work about pregnancy but if I am not immune might have to discuss with head teacher and midwife my safest option!! X

Phew glad it's the weekend! X

 

[makemeamammy]

Hi HGsurvivor. Ultimately it's up to you what to do but I know when I was pregnant and found out we had slapped cheek in school (I was 13 weeks at the time) I was told I must not go near school until I knew if I was immune. I was initially off for a week so that I could get blood test and find out results but I wasn't immune and had to be signed off until I hit 20 weeks as that is when it becomes less serious.

I would get advice from your doctor or did the midwife say it was ok for you to work until you had the results? X

 

[emicakess]

I'm a teacher and this totally freaks me out!Do they not check your immunity to it unless you are exposed? Reading this has motivated me to wash my hands constantly and ask my doctor about this and other things that can spread through being around a lot of children. Especially since I work mainly with the 2 year olds and they put everything in their mouths! Ahh.. Anyway good luck to you and I will be looking for an update!

 

[Klara0412]

I am a first grade teacher and my school had to send me for a blood test at 5 weeks to check immunity for childhood diseases. Had I not have had immunity against slap cheek, I would have been signed off work until 20 weeks.

As it is, I am not allowed to work with children under 3 or change nappies. I would defo check it out!

 

[Hoping4peanut]

Wow! I had never even heard of slapped cheek before and I nanny small kids. What is it and what do you look out for? Any other childhood illnesses I need to be concerned about?