It is spread just like the common cold; by droplet, or by direct contact with an infected surface. I'm really careful about hand washing and things like that but I suppose I must have slipped up somewhere along the line. Probably some patient's kid had it and they brought the virus into the clinic when I was still working. It is also possible that I may have been working with a patient who had developed joint problems because of it.

I asked my doc if I was contagious now and he said he didn't think so, because the contagious phase only lasts for a few days. He did say that I might be contagious from time to time when symptoms are severe, because that might indicate a resurgence of infection .

When kids get it (the most common age to get it is under 8 years old), they develop mild flu-like symptoms for a few days, then develop a rash. People are generally only contagious for the few days before the rash develops, but adults often don't develop the flu-like symptoms or the rash; so it is pretty hard to avoid an adult who might have it. Adults tend to get the joint symptoms, although not to the degree that my body has.

I don't recall having either the flu or the rash when this all started, although I did feel like I had caught some sort of a bug for a few days about a month ago. That may have been a resurgence of this virus, but my doc thinks that I've had it for longer than that. The joint stuff started in October, so I probably caught it around then.

With love, Erika