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Ashley Bialokur
Mr. Cusumano
Anatomy & Physiology
13 November 2009
Parvovirus B-19
A parvovirus is a cell with no lipid coat so it is very difficult to kill or get rid of.
Because of how it is made it is very resistant to things that normally kill viruses. Methods
such as freezing and disinfecting do not work with parvoviruses.
While there are parvovirus’ that effect dogs and other animals, Parvovirus B19 is
the only one to affect humans. The virus that affects a dog is different from the virus that
affects humans. A dog can not give a human the virus and a human can not give a dog
the virus.
Parvovirus B19 was originally discovered by accident. It was discovered by a lab
tech. He was doing routine testing for hepatitis B when he noticed an abnormality in
sample 19, panel B. Parvovirus is also called “fifth disease” because it was the fifth
disease known to commonly affect children. The other four diseases are measles, scarlet
fever, rubella, and “fourth disease”. The Parvovirus is also referred to as “erthema
infectiosum” sometimes.
Parvovirus B19 is highly contagious. Children and adults that have this virus are
contagious even before symptoms emerge. It can be spread by drinking from the same
glass or sharing pop or food. It is also spread easily though fluids in the nose mouth and
throat.
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The symptoms of Parvovirus B19 are similar to the flu. People with B19 generally
experience low grade fevers, headaches, and other cold like symptoms. Some people
have also experienced joint pain but this is more common in older children and adults.
Another symptom, the one that usually gives away the virus, is a “slapped cheek” rash.
People with the virus develop the “slapped cheek rash” a few days after coming in
contact with the virus. One to four days later they develop a rash on their extremities.
Several days after the extremity rash appears the rash spreads to the trunk of the body.
Several days after the trunk rash a lacy/net like rash appears as the other rashes start to
diminish. The lacy/ net like rash can last up to three weeks. Even when the rash is
completely gone, it can return, though it is not likely.
Parvovirus B19 is easily diagnosed by the distinctive rash and if that is not
enough it is also easily found via a blood test. If a child comes in with cold like
symptoms and the “slapped cheek” rash doctors will generally immediately diagnose it as
B19 and on their way they go. Because the rash can sometimes look like another rash, if
the doctor is not sure that is when they will opt to use the blood test, though it takes
longer to get the results.
Adults and children can get Parvovirus B19. Although, it is more common in
children and adults get it less frequently. School aged children between the ages of three
and fifteen years old are the most common to get the virus. And it is very uncommon in
adults, though it does still occur.
Of the school aged children in the world, about 20% of them do not develop
symptoms. School wide outbreaks of the disease are between 10-60%.
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If an adult becomes infected with parvovirus B19 is rare. The virus tends to last
longer for an adult than it does for a child. Symptoms can persist in an adult for months
to years after coming in contact with the virus. Women are also more likely to get
Parvovirus B19 than are men.
Parvovirus B19 can have a very large effect on pregnancy. It is fairly common,
occurring in 1 in 400 pregnancies. Parvovirus B19 can cause the most damage during the
first and second trimesters. If the mother is infected with the virus the baby can get
infected to since they share a blood supply. Infection in the fetus can result in
miscarriage. Although we know its occurs roughly every 400 pregnancies its hard to
determine an exact infection rate because
Although parvovirus B19 is not serious in most cases, there are some cases where
it can be extremely life threatening. If the person infected with B19 has a blood disorder
they can become extremely ill. People with anemia and sickle cell anemia are the ones
generally affected by this. The parvovirus can stop red blood cell production and that is
obviously not a good thing. If this happens the person can potentially go into heart
failure and even die if it is not treated. The only treatment for parvovirus B19 in these
special cases is a blood transfusion.
In most cases, no major action is needed to treat parvovirus B19. Which is a good
thing because since parvovirus B19 is a virus and not a bacterial infection, not antibiotics
can be use to get rid of it. Although there are some medications for viruses there is not
one for Parvovirus B19. For the fever and other cold like symptoms acetaminophen is
recommended for children. The most common medicine would be Tylenol, but any form
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of acetaminophen is fine. For joint pain caused by B19 your doctor will talk to you about
what kind of pain killer is needed, if it is needed at all.
The death rate of Parvovirus B19 is extremely small. Because most people do not
even experience symptoms or if they do they are mild, people most often return to a
normal healthy state quickly. It is not known how many people that have blood disorders
die from this virus each year, but with modern medicine how it is these days, it is fairly
easy for doctors to monitor a patient with a blood disorder that contracts the virus to
make sure they remain on good terms. If they need a blood transfusion doctors are also
very well trained to do this so there is a very small chance of anything happening. Death
rate of fetuses is between 2-10%. It is hard to know the exact death rate because we do
not have tools good enough to help us figure it out at this point.
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Bibliography
CDC. "Parvovirus B19 Infection and Pregnancy." Division of viral Diseases. 21 Jan
2005. CDC, Web. 01 Oct 2009.
<http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/revb/respiratory/B19&preg.htm>.
CDC. "Parvovirus B19 (Fifth Disease)." Division of Viral Diseases. 21 Jan 2005. CDC,
Web. 01 Oct 2009. <http://cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/revb/respiratory/parvo_b19.htm>.
Hartree, N. "Parvovirus Infection (Including Erythema Infectiosum)." Patient UK
2577.23 (2007): 1-5. Web. 01 Oct 2009.
<http://www.patient.co.uk/doctor/parvovirus-infection-(including-erythemainfectiosum).htm>.
Sabella, Camille, and Johanna Goldfarb. "Parvovirus B19 Infections." American Family
Physician (1999): 1-8. Web. 01 Oct 2009.
<http://www.aafp.org/afp/991001ap/1455>.