A dangerously virulent disease that produces "slapped cheeks" and can cause pregnant women to miscarry is ripping through the UK, new figures show.
Parvovirus B19 is a little-known but highly contagious virus that primarily affects young children and people with weakened immune systems. The virus spreads like any other - via droplets produced by coughs and sneezes - but is easily missed due to the milder, and sometimes entirely absent, symptoms.
Much like Covid, people who contract parovirus may not experience any symptoms aside from a characteristic red rash on both cheeks named "slapped-face syndrome". The red cheeks typically appear once infections have run their course, however, meaning the damage is already done - which can be particularly dangerous for pregnant women.
The risk of miscarriage is increased following infections with parovirus - which can also cause a fever, headaches, joint pain and a sore throat. Britons have been urged to take possible signs of the disease seriously following news of a new outbreak that has already caused some women to lose their babies. Cases of parovirus exploded at the end of 2023, months after the virus' usual spring and summer circulation period, and proceeded to snowball relentlessly into 2024.
The UK Health and Security Agency (UKHSA) reported more than 70 lab-confirmed cases in June, far above the last peak in 2018, when case levels didn't crack 50. The latest levels are second only to those seen more than a decade ago in 2013, when cases cracked 100 in the UK.
The new, higher numbers have had heartbreaking consequences for British women, some of whom have bravely opened up about their experiences to warn others about the risks of failing to notice potential parovirus infections. One mum posting on social media platform Mumsnet wrote: "I caught, what I thought was flu at about 12 weeks pregnant.
"It started with shivers and fever and whole body aches. It moved on with headaches and aching wrists and joints. I also vomited for a whole day, but wondered if this was my morning sickness. I then felt very post-viral for a few weeks. Only then did I wake up one morning with a bright red face which I had for a few days/it was hot and felt like I had been sunburnt."
The mum sought help from her midwife, and, after concluding the infection was parovirus, she was sent for urgent monitoring, but doctors confirmed the disease had killed her unborn baby. She continued: "I went for there for a scan on Tuesday – I was 16 weeks pregnant – to find the baby had died from contracting parvovirus.
"To have seen a healthy and active baby on my scan at 12 and 13 weeks and to have a low risk Harmony test and perfect nuchal scans, to being told there was no heartbeat and fluid all over the baby has been beyond devastating." The NHS states that up to one in eight pregnancies during which an expectant mother is infected by parovirus end in miscarriage, with the risk especially high in the first 20 weeks.
