Parvovirus B19

Parvoviruses belong to the family Parvoviridae. They are single-stranded, relatively uniform, isometric, nonenveloped deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) viruses that infect many animals, including humans. The parvoviruses are extremely resistant to inactivation and can survive in a wide pH range (3.0–9.0) and at 60°C for up to 12 hours. Parvovirus B19 is the only genus of parvovirus proven to cause human infection. First discovered in 1975, parvovirus was not linked to human disease until 1981 ( 1 , 2 ). In 1983, parvovirus B19 was associated with erythema infectiosum; in 1984, this virus was associated with poor outcome of pregnancy and in 1985 with arthropathy ( 3 – 5 ). Parvoviruses are 20–25 nm in diameter, and the B19 genome has been completely sequenced ( 6 , 7 ). There is some antigenic variability between strains; however, the significance of this variability is not known ( 8 ). Cultivation of the virus requires red blood cell precursors, but none of the cultivation techniques have practical use for clinical diagnosis. Parvovirus B19 causes a number of diseases in humans. Most parvovirus B19 infections, however, are likely to be asymptomatic or not recognized. These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.