Abstract
Sera collected from 57 anaemic and 115 non-anaemic age-matched pre-school children in Ilorin, Nigeria, between November 2014 and December 2015 were assayed for human parvovirus B19-specific IgM antibodies by using the enzyme linked immunosorbent assay technique. A total of 17 (29.8%) anaemic children and 18 (15.7%) non-anaemic children were positive for parvovirus B19 infection. Infection with parvovirus B19 is common in this population, and screening for the virus during differential diagnosis is recommended.
Highlights
Parvovirus B19 is a small, non-enveloped, single-stranded DNA virus.[1]
The cause of anaemia among pre-school children living in sub-Saharan Africa has been associated with malaria, haemoglobinopathy, iron deficiency, folic acid deficiency, vitamin B12 deficiency, vitamin A deficiency, HIV infection, helminthic infestation, sickle cell disease and autoimmune haemolytic anaemia[3]
A total of 21 (22.82%) boys and 14 (17.5%) girls were positive for human parvovirus B19 infection
Summary
Parvovirus B19 is a small, non-enveloped, single-stranded DNA virus.[1]. The nucleocapsid of the virus has icosahedral symmetry. Risk factors associated with parvovirus B19 infection include blood transfusion, circumcision, tribal marks and scarification.[2]. Interest in parvovirus B19 has increased because of the burden of anaemia among children in developing countries where multiple other causes of anaemia abound.[3,4] The cause of anaemia among pre-school children living in sub-Saharan Africa has been associated with malaria, haemoglobinopathy, iron deficiency, folic acid deficiency, vitamin B12 deficiency, vitamin A deficiency, HIV infection, helminthic infestation, sickle cell disease and autoimmune haemolytic anaemia[3]. The majority of hospital admissions for children under the age of five years have been attributed to malaria.[5] In addition, sickle cell disease contributes significantly to the burden of anaemia in this population.[6] Some reports on the co-infection of Plasmodium sp. Some reports on the co-infection of Plasmodium sp. with parvovirus B19 exists and it is known that both agents affect red blood cells.[7]
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