Introduction. Whilst there are reports of viral myopathies affecting children and the immunocompromised, infective myositis is a relatively rare inflammatory myopathy in adults. The clinical spectrum can range from benign myalgias to more serious complications in certain risk groups. Case Presentation. We present two cases of myositis as a result of parvovirus B19 infection. Conclusion. Viral m...

Papular-purpuric "gloves and socks" syndrome (PPGSS) is a novel, rare, self-limiting dermatosis caused by human parvovirus B19. It consists of pruritic edema and erythema of the hands and feet in a gloves-and-socks distribution, and it is associated with oral lesions and fever. We present a case of PPGSS in a 22-year-old Brazilian woman. Clinical and laboratory evaluation, including serological...

Rituximab is a chimeric monoclonal antibody directed against CD20 and used in the treatment of B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Due to its ability to deplete B lymphocytes, rituximab can interfere with humoral immunity, causing it to be suppressed for several months after treatment. The reported case depicts a serious consequence of this effect of rituximab therapy: pure red cell aplasia resultin...

INTRODUCTION Parvovirus B19 virus commonly causes subclinical infection, but it can prove fatal to the fetus during pregnancy and cause severe anemia in an adult with hemolytic diseases. We present the case of a woman with autoimmune hemolytic anemia who was diagnosed with parvovirus B19-induced transient aplastic crisis during her second trimester of pregnancy and faced the high risk of both f...

Parvovirus B19 is the causative agent of "fifth disease" of childhood. It has been implicated in a variety of conditions, including unsuccessful pregnancy and rheumatoid arthritis, and is a potential contaminant of blood products. There has been little study of immunity to parvovirus B19, and the exact nature of the protective humoral and cell-mediated immune response is unclear. Immune respons...

BACKGROUND Parvovirus B19 (B19) is associated with a wide range of diseases in humans, whose severity depends on the immunological and hematological status of the host. It is transmitted mainly through the airway but also by transfusions. AIM To determine the B19 DNA carrier frequency in a population of volunteer blood donors from three hospitals blood banks in Santiago, Chile, and to determi...

Thiopurines such as azathioprine (AZA) and 6-mercaptopurine are frequently used for the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases. Patients with low or absent thiopurine S-methyltransferase (TPMT) activity, resulting in high 6-thioguanine nucleotide levels, have an increased risk of developing leukopenia. Alternatively, certain viral infections could induce leukopenia. We present the case of an ...

This report describes the case of a 16 year old girl with a history of high fever, prolonged fatigue, and cervical lymphadenopathy of the right side. In addition, the patient showed neutropenia, thrombopenia, and pronounced reticulopenia. Cervical ultrasound showed unilateral hypoechoic lymph nodes up to 23 mm in diameter suspicious for malignant lymphoma. Histology of a cervical lymph node spe...

The spectrum of disease caused by parvovirus B19 infection ranges from asymptomatic to a serious disease. Parvovirus B19 plays a role in the pathomechanism of gloves and socks syndrome, erythema infectiosum, acute polyarthralgia, aplastic crisis in persons with hemolytic anemia, and birth defects. Gloves and socks syndrome has an acute febrile course. Painful edema of hands and feet, and numero...

Three genotypes (1-3) of human parvovirus B19 have been identified. Analysis of 13 nearly full-length genotype 3 sequences from Ghana, Europe and Brazil identified two genetically distinct clusters. The classification of genotype 3 strains into two subtypes (B19/3a and B19/3b) is proposed. The rate of evolutionary change of B19 genotype 3 strains (2 x 10(-4) nucleotide substitutions per site pe...