An outbreak of erythema infectiosum associated with human parvovirus infection

Abstract

Erythema infectiosum (EI) or fifth disease is a mild, acute exanthematous disease, occurring mainly among children, for which a causative virus has long been sought. In May 1983 an outbreak of exanthematous illness was reported in a primary school in North London. Children attending the school were investigated by questionnaire and 162 (43.9%) reported an illness with the features of EI. In each of 36 cases investigated virologically the illness was associated with parvovirus infection. Moreover, pre-existing antibody to parvovirus was correlated with protection from EI in 16 of 17 close family contacts of cases. We propose therefore that EI is the common manifestation of infection with the human parvovirus.

Concurrent outbreaks of influenza and parvovirus B19 in a boys' boarding school

“…At the same time as this outbreak of influenza-like illness with no evidence of influenza virus infection there was an outbreak of rash illnesses clearly associated with parvovirus B19. The association between B19 and the clinical presentation of El has been well proven (8,9). An unusual feature of this study was the detection of B19 DNA in blood samples from eight of the patients collected up to 4 days after the appearance of the rash; virus has only rarely been detected after the onset of rash symptoms in adults.…”

Seroprevalence of parvovirus B19 infection in daycare educators

“…It is the causal agent of erythema infectiosum, also known as fifth disease [1]. Maternal infection during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of hydrops fetalis and fetal loss [2].…”

The structure of a neutralized virus: canine parvovirus complexed with neutralizing antibody fragment

“…Diseases include enteritis, in the case of canine parvovirus (CPV) [1,2], and childhood fifth disease, caused by the human pathogen B19 [3,4]. Parvoviruses infect only actively proliferating (S phase) cells [5].…”