The disease is spread by sneezing and through saliva. Ten percent of pregnant women who come into contact with the virus will miscarry. Joy Carter lost a baby 19 weeks into a pregnancy. She caught the virus after an outbreak at her son's school. She believes schools should disseminate information about the infection in the same way that parents are warned about an outbreak of headlice.
Parvovirus is an infection with no known treatment.
Dr Jon Kurtz, a virologist at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, says the danger posed by the virus means there is now a case for screening those at greatest risk. Perhaps selective screening would be acceptable at the present because primary school teachers are exposed to lots of numbers of children who are infected. They certainly get anxious about exposures and wonder if they have been infected in the past. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.