Images in Clinical Medicine

Kim Eagle, M.D., Editor

Fifth Disease

Henry M. Feder, Jr., M.D.

N Engl J Med 1994; 331:1062October 20, 1994

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Article

Figure 1 Fifth Disease.

Typical ”slapped cheek” rash is apparent in a two-year-old child with fifth disease (erythema infectiosum), caused by parvovirus B19 infection. The common lacelike erythema of the trunk is also present but not clearly in focus. This disease, which is usually self-limited, is one of the six classic childhood exanthems, which include measles (rubeola), scarlet fever, German measles (rubella), Filatov-Dukes disease (not a separate exanthem but a variant of scarlet fever or toxin-producing staphylococcus infection), and exanthema subitum, or roseola (human herpesvirus 6 infection).

Kim Eagle, M.D.

Henry M. Feder, Jr., M.D.
University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, CT 06030