[citation needed] The term exanthem is from the Greek ἐξάνθημα, exánthēma, 'a breaking out'.

[4] It can be contrasted with enanthems which occur inside the body, such as on mucous membranes.

In 1905, the Russian-French physician Léon Cheinisse (1871–1924), proposed a numbered classification of the six most common childhood exanthems.

They are: Scarlet fever, or "second disease", is associated with the bacterium Streptococcus pyogenes.

[3] In 1979 and 2001 a possible "seventh disease" was postulated following reports of a condition in Japan also referred to as acute febrile infantile mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome (MCLS).