An infectious viral disease that causes a striking red rash on the cheeks, giving it an alternate name, slapped cheeks disease. It is also called the fifth disease, because it is the least well known of the common childhood diseases, the other main ones being measles, mumps, chicken pox, and rubella (German measles). Erythema infectiosum causes only mild symptoms in children, but it is presently being examined closely, because some medical researchers suspect that it can cause birth defects, especially a dangerous form of anemia, in the babies of pregnant women who contract the disease.
A mild, moderately contagious disease seen most commonly in school-age children.
A variety of erythema that manifests in children during the summer, marked by a rash, sore throat, fatigue, but no fever. It can occasionally occur as an epidemic.