Seroepidemiological study of human parvovirus B19 among human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients in a medium-sized city in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

• Autor(a) principal: Azevedo,Kátia Martins Lopes de
• Data de Publicação: 2009
• Outros Autores: Setúbal,Sérgio, Camacho,Luis Antônio Bastos, Velarde,Luis Guillermo Coca, Oliveira,Solange Artimos de
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz
• Texto Completo: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0074-02762009000600014
• topic: human parvovirus B19; seroprevalence; HIV infection; anaemia

Parvovirus B19 (B-19) may cause chronic anaemia in immunosuppressed patients, including those infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). We studied single serum samples from 261 consecutive HIV-infected patients using an enzyme immunoassay to detect IgG antibodies to B-19. The seroprevalence of B-19-IgG was 62.8%. The differences in seroprevalence across gender, age, educational categories, year of collection of the serum samples, clinical and antiretroviral therapy characteristics, CD4+ count, CD4+ and CD8+ percentage and CD4+/CD8+ ratios were neither substantial nor statistically significant. There was a non-significant, inverse association between B-19 seropositivity and plasma HIV load and haemoglobin level. Our results indicated that 37.1% of patients might be susceptible to B-19 infection and remained at risk for being infected, mainly during epidemic periods. As B-19 infection can be treated with immune globulin preparations, it may be included in the diagnostic approach toward chronic anaemia in HIV-infected patients.