Slap-cheek syndrome

Introduction: Slap-cheek syndrome

The medical name is erythema infectiosum, but it is commonly called "slap-cheek syndrome" because of the rosy slapped-like appearance of the child's cheeks. It is also called "Fifth disease", because it is the fifth of five common child diseases causing similar rashes (the others are measles, rubella, scarlet fever and Filatov-Dukes disease, a type of scarlet fever).

Symptoms of Slap-cheek syndrome

• Facial rash
  • Red cheek rash
  • Cheek rash that looks like child was slapped - the "slap-cheek rash"
• Body rash
  • Facial rash spreads to the body - usually after 1 or 2 days

See full list of 24 symptoms of Slap-cheek syndrome

Medical Textbooks Online about Slap-cheek syndrome

Book excerpts: Copyright © 2008 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. All rights reserved.

Wrongly Diagnosed with Slap-cheek syndrome?

• Misdiagnosis of Slap-cheek syndrome

Causes of Slap-cheek syndrome

Read more about causes of Slap-cheek syndrome.

Treatments for Slap-cheek syndrome

• Watchful waiting - usually no treatment is specifically needed for the virus.
• Symptomatic treatments
• Pain relief medications
• Antibiotics do not help - because it is a virus

Read more about treatments for Slap-cheek syndrome

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Prognosis for Slap-cheek syndrome

Prognosis for Slap-cheek syndrome: Usually resolves by itself over time

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Reseach about Slap-cheek syndrome

Visit our research pages for current research about Slap-cheek syndrome treatments.

Clinical Trials for Slap-cheek syndrome

The US based website ClinicalTrials.gov lists information on both federally and privately supported clinical trials using human volunteers.

Some of the clinical trials listed on ClinicalTrials.gov for Slap-cheek syndrome include:

• B-19 Parvovirus Vaccine Study - This study is not yet open for patient recruitment (Current: 23 Nov 2006)

Read more about Clinical Trials for Slap-cheek syndrome

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Definitions of Slap-cheek syndrome:

Contagious infection with human B19 Parvovirus most commonly seen in school age children and characterized by fever, headache, and rashes of the face, trunk, and extremities. It is often confused with rubella. - (Source - Diseases Database)

Slap-cheek syndrome is listed as a "rare disease" by the Office of Rare Diseases (ORD) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This means that Slap-cheek syndrome, or a subtype of Slap-cheek syndrome, affects less than 200,000 people in the US population.
Source - National Institutes of Health (NIH)