By BETSY NEAHRING I would have made a very poor pioneer doctor. I am far too accustomed to the luxuries of modern medicine, including state-of- the-art diagnostic equipment and powerful antibiotic therapy. It is interesting, however, that some things in medicine have not changed.

A very interesting story about a new potentially dangerous human virus, Fifth diseases, will be aired on the episode of ER (Under the Influence [October 25, 2007; NBC]). Fifth disease gets its name by being the fifth childhood disease that we can expect to catch, after measles etc.

By Dr. Helen Minciotti My friend, a school nurse, called to talk shop. Her school was having a mini epidemic of fifth disease, and she was being inundated with calls from impatient parents wanting to know why their rashy children were being excluded from school.