Association between human parvovirus B19 and arthropathy in Belém, Pará, North Brazil

• Autor(a) principal: Freitas, Ronaldo Barros de
• Data de Publicação: 2002
• Outros Autores: Monteiro, Talita Antônia Furtado, Silva Filho, Manoel Gomes da, Linhares, Alexandre da Costa
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Digital do Instituto Evandro Chagas (Patuá)
• Texto Completo: https://patua.iec.gov.br/handle/iec/3240
• topic: Parvovirus B19 Humano; Artropatias / complicações

A total of 220 patients with arthropathy were selected in Belem, Para between January 1994 and December 2000, and screened for the presence of human parvovirus B19 IgM and IgG antibodies by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). A subgroup (n = 132) of patients with high levels of antibodies (either IgM+/IgG+ or IgM-/IgG+) were examined for the presence of DNA by polymerase chain reaction/nested PCR. Recent/active infection (detection of IgM and/or IgG-specific antibodies and presence of viral DNA) was identified in 47.7 per cent of the 132 individuals with arthropathy. In our study, women were significantly more affected (59.7 per cent) than men (35.4 per cent) (P = 0.0006). The age group of 11-20 years (84.6 per cent), among female patients, and 21-30 years (42.1 per cent), among male, were those with the highest incidence rates. The analysis of the temporal distribution of B19-associated arthropaties showed a cyclic pattern, with peak incidence rates occuring at 3-5 year intervals. Significant diference (P = 0.01) was observed when comparing both the highest (39.0 per cent) and the lowest (11.0 per cent) seropositivity rates for the years of 1995 and 2000, respectively. The interfalangial joints of hands and feet were mostly affected, with 50.0 per cent and 48.0 per cent of cases among both women and men, respectively. In a smaller proportion, other joints such as those of knee, ankle, pulse and shoulder were affected. As for the duration, symptoms lasted 1 to 5 days in 54.0 per cent of the individuals, whereas in 46.0 per cent of them the disease lasted 6-10 days, if considered the subgroup (n = 63) of patients with recent/active infection by parvovirus B19. In our study, joint clinical manifestations occurred symmetrically. Our results indicate that B19 may be an important agent of arthropathies in our region, and this underscores the need for specific laboratory diagnosis when treating patients suffering from acute arthropathy, mainly pregnant women.