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Afr Health Sci 2018 Sep;18(3):496-502

University of Zambia, School of Medicine, Department of Pathology and Microbiology.

Background: Human Parvovirus (B19V) is a small, single-stranded, non-enveloped DNA virus which is pathogenic to humans causing a wide array of clinical complications which include erythema infectiosum, aplastic crisis and hydrops foetalis. It is generally harmless in healthy individuals but may be life threatening in immunocompromised individuals such as patients with sickle cell disease, cancer, HIV and pregnant women. It has been shown to be transmissible by blood transfusion but donor screening for the virus is not yet mandatory in most sub-Saharan African countries including Zambia. Read More

N Engl J Med 2018 Dec;379(24):2361

Universitätsklinikum Carl Gustav Carus, Dresden, Germany

BMC Infect Dis 2018 Dec 7;18(1):631. Epub 2018 Dec 7.

Research and Development, Australian Red Cross Blood Service, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

Backgroud: Primate erythroparvovirus 1 (B19V) is a globally ubiquitous DNA virus. Infection results in a variety of clinical presentations including erythema infectiosum in children and arthralgia in adults. There is limited understanding of the seroprevalence of B19V antibodies in the Australian population and therefore of population-wide immunity. Read More

Pediatr Dermatol 2018 Nov 19;35(6):e341-e344. Epub 2018 Sep 19.

Dermatology Service, Hospital Ramos Mejía, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Parvovirus B19 is a DNA virus of the Parvoviridae family. We present four children with unusual exanthems associated with parvovirus infection: a purpuric periflexural pattern, a purpuric vasculitic pattern, and a combination of the two. Read More

Transfus Apher Sci 2018 Oct 1;57(5):646-650. Epub 2018 Aug 1.

Department of Transfusion Medicine, Government Medical College and Hospital, Chandigarh, India.

Objectives: The present study was aimed to find out the prevalence of parvovirus B19  amongst healthy blood donors and blood transfusion recipients so as to determine the feasibility of providing seronegative blood components to vulnerable recipients.

Methods: A total of 1000 samples were studied which included 800 blood donors and 200 transfusion recipients.The transfusion recipients included 100 multitransfused patients and 100 non transfused controls. Read More

Indian J Med Res 2018 04;147(4):391-399

Sri Sakthi Amma Institute of Biomedical Research, Sri Narayani Hospital & Research Centre, Vellore, India.

Background & Objectives: Human parvovirus B19V (B19V) is known to be associated with erythema infectiosum commonly in children, aplastic crisis, especially in persons with underlying haemolytic disorders, hydrops fetalis in pregnancies and arthritis. This cross-sectional study was aimed to determine the presence of B19V infection in childhood febrile illnesses, association of B19V with arthropathies and in adult patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) on dialysis. The genetic diversity among the sequences was also analysed. Read More

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2018 07 2;115(29):7557-7562. Epub 2018 Jul 2.

Center for Pathogen Evolution, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, CB2 3EJ Cambridge, United Kingdom;

Human parvovirus B19 (B19V) is a ubiquitous human pathogen associated with a number of conditions, such as fifth disease in children and arthritis and arthralgias in adults. B19V is thought to evolve exceptionally rapidly among DNA viruses, with substitution rates previously estimated to be closer to those typical of RNA viruses. On the basis of genetic sequences up to ∼70 years of age, the most recent common ancestor of all B19V has been dated to the early 1800s, and it has been suggested that genotype 1, the most common B19V genotype, only started circulating in the 1960s. Read More

J Pediatr 2018 Nov 21;202:327-327.e1. Epub 2018 Jun 21.

Department of Postgraduate Education and Training National Center for Child Health and Development Tokyo, Japan.

Pediatrics 2018 Jun;141(6)

Department of Pediatrics, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Niigata University, Niigata, Japan.

Parvovirus B19 (PB19) is an important human pathogen that results in a wide spectrum of clinical outcomes, from mild, self-limiting erythema infectiosum in immunocompetent children and arthralgia in adults to lethal cytopenia in immunocompromised patients and intrauterine fetal death. However, there have been few reports of PB19 infection in neonates or young infants (aged 28-90 days), and no previous reports contained descriptions of PB19 infection as a cause of sepsislike syndrome in this age group. We report a case of sepsislike syndrome caused by PB19 infection in a 56-day-old infant whose mother had polyarthralgia at the time of his admission. Read More

Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol 2018 Nov;52(5):569-576

Women's Health and Perinatology Research Group, Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, UiT - The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway.

Objective: To explore the outcome of fetuses affected by congenital parvovirus B19 (PB19) infection, with or without signs of hydrops on ultrasound.

Methods: PubMed, EMBASE and CINAHL databases were searched for studies reporting on prenatal diagnosis and outcome of fetal PB19 infection. The outcomes explored were miscarriage, perinatal death (PND), intrauterine death, neonatal death, spontaneous resolution of hydrops or fetal anemia, need for intrauterine transfusion (IUT), resolution of hydrops or anemia after transfusion, fetal loss following transfusion, abnormal brain scan after birth and abnormal neurodevelopmental outcome. Read More

BMJ Case Rep 2018 Apr 21;2018. Epub 2018 Apr 21.

Serviço de Pediatria, Departamento da Infância e da Adolescência, Centro Materno Infantil do Norte, Centro Hospitalar e Universitário do Porto, Porto, Portugal.

PLoS One 2018 14;13(3):e0194186. Epub 2018 Mar 14.

Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Manhiça (CISM), Maputo, Mozambique.

Background: Congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV) infection is the most prevalent congenital infection acquired worldwide, with higher incidence in developing countries and among HIV-exposed children. Less is known regarding vertical transmission of parvovirus B19 (B19V) and enterovirus (EV). We aimed to assess the prevalence of CMV, B19V and EV vertical transmission and compare results of screening of congenital CMV obtained from two different specimens in a semirural Mozambican maternity. Read More

Mediterr J Hematol Infect Dis 2018 1;10(1):e2018018. Epub 2018 Mar 1.

Department of Pediatrics, Democritus University of Thrace Faculty of Medicine, Alexandroupolis, Thrace, Greece.

Background: Human parvovirus B19 (HPV-B19) is the etiologic agent of erythema infectiosum, of transient aplastic crises in individuals with underlying chronic hemolytic disorders, and of chronic pure red cell aplasia in immunocompromised individuals.

Case Report: We describe a 14-year-old girl with long-standing Evans syndrome, who presented with severe anemia, reticulocytopenia and thrombocytopenia. A bone marrow aspirate revealed severe erythroid hypoplasia along with the presence of giant pronormoblasts, while serological studies and real-time PCR of whole blood were positive for acute parvovirus B19 infection. Read More

N Engl J Med 2018 Feb;378(8):753-760

From the Departments of Medicine (S.J.K., J.S.G., R.K.L., A.L.C.) and Pathology (G.M.E.), Massachusetts General Hospital, and the Departments of Medicine (S.J.K., J.S.G., R.K.L., A.L.C.) and Pathology (G.M.E.), Harvard Medical School - both in Boston.

Pathol Int 2018 Mar 19;68(3):190-195. Epub 2018 Feb 19.

Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kanazawa University Graduate School of Medicine, Kanazawa, Japan.

Human parvovirus B19 infection causes a variety of glomerular diseases such as post-infectious acute glomerulonephritis and collapsing glomerulopathy. Although each of these appears independently, it has not been fully determined why parvovirus B19 provokes such a variety of different glomerular phenotypes. Here, we report a 68-year-old Japanese man who showed endocapillary proliferative glomerulonephritis admixed with podocytopathy in association with parvovirus B19 infection. Read More

J Virol 2018 04 28;92(8). Epub 2018 Mar 28.

Department of Microbiology, Molecular Genetics and Immunology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas, USA

Human parvovirus B19 (B19V) expresses a single precursor mRNA (pre-mRNA), which undergoes alternative splicing and alternative polyadenylation to generate 12 viral mRNA transcripts that encode two structural proteins (VP1 and VP2) and three nonstructural proteins (NS1, 7.5-kDa protein, and 11-kDa protein). Splicing at the second 5' donor site (D2 site) of the B19V pre-mRNA is essential for the expression of VP2 and the 11-kDa protein. Read More

Indian J Med Res 2017 Jul;146(1):138-140

Diagnostic Virology Group, ICMR-National Institute of Virology, Pune 411 021, Maharashtra, India.

Travel Med Infect Dis 2017 Nov - Dec;20:70. Epub 2017 Nov 10.

Instituto Ramón y Cajal de Investigación Sanitaria-Hospital Ramón y Cajal, Madrid, Spain. Electronic address:

Pediatr Blood Cancer 2018 Jan 17;65(1). Epub 2017 Aug 17.

Department of Medicine and Pediatrics, Vanderbilt-Meharry Sickle Cell Center of Excellence, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee.

Background: The relationship between silent cerebral infarcts (SCIs) and history of parvovirus B19 (B19V) has not been systematically evaluated. As an ancillary study from the Silent Cerebral Infarct Trial (SIT) (NCT00072761), we tested the hypothesis that a history of B19V infection is associated with an increased prevalence of SCIs in children with sickle cell anemia.

Procedure: We used a retrospective cross-sectional cohort study design; each participant underwent a brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan and medical record review for prior B19V infection (n = 958). Read More

J Neurovirol 2017 10 22;23(5):786-788. Epub 2017 Aug 22.

Department of Neurology, Centro Hospitalar de Lisboa Central, E.P.E. - Hospital de Santo António dos Capuchos, Alameda Santo António dos Capuchos, 1169-050, Lisbon, Portugal.

Parvovirus B19 (PB19) is a common, widespread, small, single-stranded DNA virus which has been linked with a broad spectrum of clinical illnesses, including a variety of neurological complications such as encephalitis, meningitis, myelitis, stroke, cerebellar ataxia, and neuropathy. The authors describe a case of PB19 infection associated with hemolytic anemia and cranial polyneuropathy involving the second and third cranial nerves in a 23-year-old immunocompetent woman. The diagnosis of acute PB19 infection was established with detection of positive DNA and anti-PB19 IgM antibodies in blood samples. Read More

J Clin Virol 2017 10 8;95:10-11. Epub 2017 Aug 8.

Institute of Virology, University of Bonn Medical Centre, D-53105 Bonn, Germany. Electronic address:

Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol 2017 08;50(2):145-153

Fetal Medicine Unit, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Pediatr Int 2017 Jul;59(7):838-840

Department of Postgraduate Education and Training, National Center for Child Health and Development, Tokyo, Japan.

Transpl Infect Dis 2017 Oct 19;19(5). Epub 2017 Sep 19.

Division of Nephrology, Department of Internal Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.

Background: Parvovirus B19 is a small, non-enveloped, single-stranded DNA virus with a special affinity for the erythroid progenitor cells of the bone marrow. The first case of parvovirus B19 infection in a kidney transplant recipient (KTR) was reported in 1986. Data on the risk factors and specific clinical characteristics of parvovirus B19 infection remain insufficient. Read More

Am J Dermatopathol 2018 Feb;40(2):e19-e24

Dermatology, and.

Human parvovirus B19 (B19V) causes a number of skin exanthemas and has been related to both cutaneous and systemic diseases. Tropism of the virus for the rapidly proliferating erythroid progenitor cells in the bone marrow and fetal liver explains the pathogenesis of anemia and fetal hydrops. The cutaneous lesions of erythema infectiosum and other B19V-related exanthemas have been attributed to the deposition of immune complexes in the skin. Read More

Am J Med 2017 Nov 7;130(11):1269-1271. Epub 2017 Jun 7.

Division of General Internal Medicine, New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center. Electronic address:

BMC Pregnancy Childbirth 2017 Jun 7;17(1):176. Epub 2017 Jun 7.

Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Weill Bugando School of Medicine, P.O.Box 1464, Mwanza, Tanzania.

Background: Human parvovirus B19 (B19) infection has been associated with congenital infection which may result into a number of the adverse pregnancy outcomes. The epidemiology and the magnitude of B19 infections among pregnant women have been poorly studied in developing countries. This study was done to establish preliminary information about the magnitude of B19 among pregnant women attending antenatal clinics in the city of Mwanza, Tanzania. Read More

Int J Surg Pathol 2017 Oct 2;25(7):648-651. Epub 2017 Jun 2.

1 University of Illinois at Chicago Hospital and Health Sciences System, Chicago, IL, USA.

Parvovirus B19 infection is undiagnosed in recipients undergoing solid organ transplantation. It is usually responsible for unexplained acute and chronic red blood cell aplasia that does not respond to erythropoietin therapy. Cases of parvovirus B19 infection associated with pancytopenia, solid organ dysfunction, and allograft rejection have been described in the literature. Read More

Vaccine 2017 06 26;35(29):3615-3620. Epub 2017 May 26.

Department of Infectious Diseases, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, United States; Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Biochemistry, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, United States. Electronic address:

Parvovirus B19 infections are typically mild in healthy individuals, but can be life threatening in individuals with sickle cell disease (SCD). A Saccharomyces cerevisiae-derived B19 VLP vaccine, now in pre-clinical development, is immunogenic in wild type mice when administered with the adjuvant MF59. Because SCD alters the immune response, we evaluated the efficacy of this vaccine in a mouse model for SCD. Read More

Case Reports Hepatol 2017 20;2017:1359486. Epub 2017 Apr 20.

Third Department of Internal Medicine, Nara Medical University, Kashihara, Nara, Japan.

Human parvovirus (HPV) B19 is linked to a variety of clinical manifestations, such as erythema infectiosum, nonimmune hydrops fetalis, and transient aplastic anemia. Although a few cases have shown HPVB19 infection as a possible causative agent for hepatitis-associated aplastic anemia (HAAA) in immunocompetent patients, most reported cases of HAAA following transient hepatitis did not have delayed remission. Here we report a rare case of severe aplastic anemia following acute hepatitis with prolonged jaundice due to HPVB19 infection in a previously healthy young male. Read More

Rev Assoc Med Bras (1992) 2017 Mar;63(3):224-228

PhD, Scientific Researcher, Núcleo de Doenças Respiratórias, Instituto Adolfo Lutz, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.

Introduction:: Virus surveillance strategies and genetic characterization of human parvovirus B19 (B19V) are important tools for regional and global control of viral outbreak. In São Paulo, Brazil, we performed a study of B19V by monitoring the spread of this virus, which is an infectious agent and could be mistakenly reported as a rash and other types of infection.

Method:: Serum samples were subjected to enzyme immunoassay, real time polymerase chain reaction, and sequencing. Read More

J Hosp Infect 2017 Jun 18;96(2):163-167. Epub 2017 Mar 18.

Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand. Electronic address:

Background: Nosocomial outbreaks of parvovirus B19 (pB19) have been reported, but they rarely occur among healthcare personnel (HCP). Susceptibility among pregnant HCP was the major concern.

Methods: An outbreak of pB19 among HCP is described in a paediatric ward with a cross-sectional serologic study in all HCP and patients exposed to the outbreak. Read More

Birth Defects Res 2017 Mar;109(5):311-323

Laboratory of Teratology, Department of Medical Neurobiology, Hebrew University Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel.

Parvovirus B19 infects 1 to 5% of pregnant women, generally with normal pregnancy outcomes. During epidemics, the rate of infection is higher. Major congenital anomalies among offspring of infected mothers are rare, as the virus does not appear to be a significant teratogen. Read More

Exp Clin Transplant 2017 06 6;15(3):369-371. Epub 2017 Apr 6.

From the Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Tepecik Education and Training Hospital, Izmir, Turkey.

J Emerg Med 2017 05 2;52(5):753-755. Epub 2017 Mar 2.

Department of Emergency Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; Department of Emergency Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.

Ann Hematol 2017 May 21;96(5):881-882. Epub 2017 Feb 21.

Biomedical Diagnostic Center, Hospital Clínic of Barcelona, Villarroel, 170, 08036, Barcelona, Spain.

Immunol Res 2017 04;65(2):447-453

Department of Medicine E, Meir Medical Center, 44261, Kfar Saba, Israel.

We sought to evaluate a possible link between parvovirus B19 infection and the clinical and laboratory expression of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). SLE patients were examined to evaluate their clinical status and disease activity. A complete Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI) score was obtained for each patient. Read More

Acta Med Port 2016 Oct 31;29(10):674. Epub 2016 Oct 31.

Serviço de Doenças Infecciosas. Hospital de Curry Cabral. Centro Hospitalar de Lisboa Central. Lisboa. Portugal.

J Obstet Gynaecol Can 2016 Dec 4;38(12S):S525-S536. Epub 2017 Jan 4.

Vancouver (C.-B.).

Braz J Infect Dis 2017 Jan - Feb;21(1):102-106. Epub 2016 Nov 30.

Universidade Federal Fluminense, Faculdade de Medicina, Programa de Pós Graduação em Ciências Médicas, Niterói, RJ, Brazil; Universidade Federal Fluminense, Faculdade de Medicina, Disciplina de Doenças Infecciosas e Parasitárias, Niterói, RJ, Brazil.

This study was conducted to provide information on the genetic diversity of human parvovirus B19 (B19V) circulating in the municipality of Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Southeast Brazil during 1996-2006, a period with two distinct outbreaks of B19V infection: 1999-2000 and 2004-2005. A total of 27 sera from patients with erythema infectiosum and five sera from HIV-infected patients that tested positive for B19V DNA during the study period were analyzed. To genotype B19V strains, a semi-nested PCR for partial amplification of the capsid gene was performed and sequence analysis revealed that 31 sequences belonged to subgenotype 1a (G1a) of the main genotype 1 and one sequence was characterized as subgenotype 3b (G3b). Read More

Clin Exp Dermatol 2017 Jan 30;42(1):58-60. Epub 2016 Nov 30.

Dermatology Service, Fundación Jiménez Díaz, Madrid, Spain.

Parvovirus B19 infection can cause a wide range of cutaneous manifestations, including papular-purpuric gloves-and-socks syndrome (PPGSS) and petechial bathing trunk eruption. We report a case of an immunocompetent woman with a primary parvovirus B19 infection presenting as concurrent PPGSS and petechial bathing trunk eruption. Parvovirus B19 seroconversion was confirmed several days after the onset of the clinical manifestations. Read More

Blood 2016 11;128(21):2504-2509

Office of the Dean, James H. Quillen College of Medicine, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN.

Pure red cell aplasia (PRCA) is a syndrome defined by a normocytic normochromic anemia with severe reticulocytopenia and marked reduction or absence of erythroid precursors from the bone marrow. Diamond-Blackfan anemia is a congenital form of PRCA. Acquired PRCA may be either a primary disorder or secondary to some other disorder or agent. Read More

Biochemistry 2016 Nov 17;55(47):6577-6593. Epub 2016 Nov 17.

Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Arizona , Tucson, Arizona 85721, United States.

Infection with human parvovirus B19 (B19V) has been associated with a myriad of illnesses, including erythema infectiosum (Fifth disease), hydrops fetalis, arthropathy, hepatitis, and cardiomyopathy, and also possibly the triggering of any number of different autoimmune diseases. B19V NS1 is a multidomain protein that plays a critical role in viral replication, with predicted nuclease, helicase, and gene transactivation activities. Herein, we investigate the biochemical activities of the nuclease domain (residues 2-176) of B19V NS1 (NS1-nuc) in sequence-specific DNA binding of the viral origin of replication sequences, as well as those of promoter sequences, including the viral p6 and the human p21, TNFα, and IL-6 promoters previously identified in NS1-dependent transcriptional transactivation. Read More

Zhongguo Shi Yan Xue Ye Xue Za Zhi 2016 Oct;24(5):1572-1576

Xiamen Blood Center, Xiamen 361004, Fujian Province, China. E-mail:

Objective: To estimate the prevalence of parvovirus B19 infection in Chinese Xiamen area blood donors.

Methods: Blood samples from blood donors were tested for detection of parvovirus B19 DNA and antibody. The direct sequencing and genetype analysis of B19 DNA positive samples were performed. Read More

Semin Nephrol 2016 09;36(5):428-434

Division of Infectious Diseases and the William J von Liebig Center for Transplantation and Clinical Regeneration, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN. Electronic address:

Kidney transplant recipients are at increased risk of developing clinical disease due to uncommon opportunistic viral pathogens. Refractory anemia is classically associated with parvovirus B19 infection. West Nile virus has the propensity to cause fever and neurologic symptoms, while spastic paresis and lymphoma can be triggered by human T cell lymphotrophic virus. Read More

Viruses 2016 Sep 28;8(10). Epub 2016 Sep 28.

Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Bern, Bern 3012, Switzerland.

Parvovirus B19 (B19V) is a small non-enveloped virus and known as the causative agent for the mild childhood disease . B19V has an extraordinary narrow tissue tropism, showing only productive infection in erythroid precursor cells in the bone marrow. We recently found that the viral protein 1 unique region (VP1u) contains an N-terminal receptor-binding domain (RBD), which mediates the uptake of the virus into cells of the erythroid lineage. Read More

Br J Cancer 2016 10 23;115(8):1008-1014. Epub 2016 Aug 23.

Department of Clinical Science, Intervention and Technology, CLINTEC, Karolinska Institutet, S-141 86 Stockholm, Sweden.

Background: Some childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemias (ALL) can be traced back to a prenatal origin, where a virus infection could be involved in the first pre-leukaemic clone development. The DNA virome of 95 children who later developed ALL was characterised from neonatal blood spots (NBS) using unbiased next-generation sequencing (NGS) and compared with the virome of 95 non-ALL controls.

Methods: DNA was individually extracted from the ALL-patients and controls, pooled, randomly amplified and sequenced using the Illumina MiSeq Sequencing System. Read More

Eur J Dermatol 2016 Dec;26(6):618-619

Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine - Dermatology, University of Messina, Messina, Italy.