Erythema infectiosum, slapped cheek syndrome, or fifth disease.

Erythema infectiosum, slapped cheek syndrome, or fifth disease

• Eythema infectiosum is caused by the parvovirus B19. It involves a low-grade fever, tiredness, and a rash over the body and, notably, on the cheeks.

• It is sometimes called "slapped cheek syndrome," because the rash makes the cheeks, or "fifth disease," as it used to be 5th among a common group of childhood diseases with similar rashes. These were measles,rubella (German measles),scarlet fever, and Dukes' disease.

• The virus can affect any age, but it mostly occurs between the ages of 5 and 14 years,and especially in children from 5 and 7 years.Most people only catch it once, and then they are immune. It is more common during the spring.

• Erythema infectiosum only affects humans. Some types of parvovirus can affect animals, but humans and animals cannot catch parvovirus B19 from each other.

• The effects are normally mild, but, life-threatening complications can arise. The American Osteopathic College of Dermatology (AOCD) describes it as "relatively common and mildly contagious."