Vol.21 No.1

Original Article

Clinical findings in parvovirus B19 infection in 30 adult patients in Kyoto

Authors

Hiroshi Oiwa1,2 , Toshihiko Shimada1 , Motomu Hashimoto1,3 , Akiko Kawaguchi1 , Takeshi Ueda1 , Eiji Sugiyama2 , Toru Kamiya1,4

  • Department of General Internal Medicine, Rakuwakai Otowa Hospital
  • Present address: Department of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology, Hiroshima University
  • Department of Immunology and Rheumatology, Kyoto University
  • Department of Infectious Diseases, Rakuwakai Otowa Hospital
Received:

24 December 2009

Accepted:

30 June 2010

Published online:

4 August 2010

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Abstract

To relate the clinical findings of parvovirus B19 nfection to the phase of the disease, we performed a retrospective chart review of 30 adult patients who tested positive for IgM antibody against parvovirus B19 at our hospital from March 2003 to November 2008. Median patient age was 38 ears, with 86.7% aged between 26 and 45 years. The male-to-female ratio was 4:26 (86.7%female). Symptoms in the first phase were mainly flu-like,including fever, headache, or myalgia. Symptoms in the second phase were arthralgia in 24 (85.7%) and rash in 23 (82.1%). Fever was observed in 21 (70.0%), and 22 (75.9%) were found to be lymphopenic. The onsets in 73.3% of cases were concentrated within 0.1% of the study period, an observation nearly consistent with an outbreak of erythema infectiosum. Three patients had symmetrical swelling of joints, all of whom also had rash.
Most patients visited the hospital within a week of onset and prognosis was favorable. In the parvovirus B19 ection, flu-like symptoms were frequent in the first phase, while rash and arthralgia were common in the second.Female sex, age between 26 and 45, and presence of rash, arthralgia, fever, and lymphopenia were clinical findings with a high frequency (≥70%), and these factors may contribute to diagnosis. In an era when early diagnosis and therapy is required in rheumatoid arthritis, it is important to recognize the parvovirus B19 infection with a presentation of acute arthritis and a favorable prognosis.

Key words

Adult - Erythema infectiosum - Outbreak - Parvovirus B19