Human parvovirus B19 infections among exanthematic diseases notified as measles.

Rita C.N Cubel,Célia M F Cruz,Jussara P Nascimento,Marilda M Siqueira,Elisabete O Santos,Maria F Pires

doi:10.1590/s0037-86821997000100004

Abstract

A total of 1397 sera collected from 1095 cases of exanthematic disease notified as measles in ES and RJ states during July 1992 to December 1994 were investigated. These sera were first tested for measles and rubella specific IgM. When they proved negative, they were tested for B19 specific IgM by an enzyme immunoassay. B19 infection was confirmed in 27 (2.5%) of these cases. Sera from 194 negative cases for measles and rubella IgM received from other Brazilian states were also investigated and B19 infection was confirmed for 11 of them. Sera from these 38 IgM positive cases for B19, were tested for anti-B19 IgG by an enzyme immunoassay and for B19 DNA by dot blot hybridization. Anti-B19 IgG antibodies were detected in most of the acute sera. B19 DNA was detected in the acute serum of one patient that had been splenectomized before. As the exanthem caused by human parvovirus infection may be clinically diagnosed as rubella, it could be important to diagnose B19 infection in Brazil since it is becoming prevalent as the cause of rash in countries where rubella is controlled by vaccination.

Highlights

A total of 1397 sera collected from 1095 cases of exanthematic disease notified as measles in Espírito Santo (ES) and Rio de Janeiro (RJ) states during July 1992 to December 1994 were investigated
Detection of specific anti-B19 IgM: All sera negative for measles and rubella IgM were tested for human parvovirus B19 specific IgM by an “in house” IgM capture enzyme immunoassay (MACEIA), as described previously[9]
Sera were obtained from 1095 measles notified cases in RJ and ES States during July 1992 to December 1994, and tested for measles specific IgM

Summary

Introduction

A total of 1397 sera collected from 1095 cases of exanthematic disease notified as measles in ES and RJ states during July 1992 to December 1994 were investigated. As B19 virus has been shown to cause exanthematic disease, we used all the negative sera for measles and rubella IgM, to search for evidence of recent human parvovirus B19 and study the occurrence of fifth disease in the states of Espírito Santo and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. A total of 1397 sera collected from 1095 patients were examined for the occurrence of measles, rubella and B19 infection.

Results

Conclusion