Cyriac Abby Philips, a Kerala-based hepatologist known online as 'The Liver Doc,' recently shared a humbling experience. Despite being a specialist, he encountered difficulty diagnosing a family member's illness. Standard medical tests proved inconclusive, leaving him frustrated.
"My adult family member had episodes of relentless low-grade fever with chills and crippling fatigue and arthritis and a weird rash and I tested everything from viral hepatitis to covid-19 to influenza and dengue and Ebstein Barr Virus and nothing came back positive and it was frustrating," he wrote on X.
As Dr Philips continued his research by consulting medical texts, his maid unexpectedly offered valuable insight.
"My elderly maid comes in and tells me she has seen this rash in her grandchildren and it's called 'Anjaampani' in the local language (5th Disease) and I don't have to worry and got checked for Parvovirus B19 and it came positive," Dr Philips wrote."17 years of medical school and a Harrisons on my lap and my elderly maid got it in like 10 seconds."
Medline Plus describes the fifth disease, also known as erythema infectiosum, as a viral infection caused by human parvovirus B19. It primarily affects children and is spread through respiratory droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes.
The most recognizable symptom is a characteristic bright-red rash on the cheeks, often referred to as "slapped cheek syndrome." This rash can then spread to other parts of the body and may be accompanied by additional symptoms.
When social media users asked the doctor why he did not consult a general practitioner, he replied, "People do not understand that most times, nowadays, a 'GP' is not the GP that we expect these days. Half my time in outpatient is spent deprescribing medications unnecessarily given by so-called GPs and specialists. It is easy to virtue signal on social media, but the reality is far different. For me, the maid's diagnosis was extremely valuable and I did not have to take a day off to see a 'GP'."
Earlier this year, Dr Philips emerged as a hero when he acted swiftly to save a man's life in mid-air on an Akasa Air flight from Kochi to Mumbai. He is also known for his research efforts aimed at dispelling myths surrounding alternative medicine."
