Parvovirus infection

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Causes

By Mayo Clinic staff

The human parvovirus B19 causes parvovirus infection. This is different from the parvovirus seen in dogs and cats, so you can't get the infection from a pet or vice versa.

Human parvovirus infection is most common among elementary school-age children during outbreaks in the winter and spring months, but anyone can become ill with it anytime of the year. It spreads from person to person, just like a cold, often through respiratory secretions and hand-to-hand contact.

The illness is contagious in the week before the rash appears. Once the rash appears, the person with the illness is no longer considered contagious and doesn't need to be isolated.

Complications Symptoms
References
  1. Fifth disease. In: Ferri FF. Ferri's Clinical Advisor 2012: 5 Books in 1. Philadelphia, Pa.: Mosby Elsevier; 2012. http://www.mdconsult.com/books/about.do?about=true&eid=4-u1.0-B978-0-323-05611-3..C2009-0-38601-8--TOP&isbn=978-0-323-05611-3&uniqId=291436269-101. Accessed Dec. 29, 2011.
  2. Young NS. Parvovirus. In: Goldman L, et al. Cecil Medicine. 24th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2011. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/191371208-2/0/1492/0.html#. Accessed Dec. 29, 2011.
  3. Parvovirus B19. American Academy of Pediatrics Red Book Online. http://aapredbook.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/2009/1/3.92?maxtoshow=&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=parvovirus&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&fdate=1/1/2009&tdate=1/31/2009&resourcetype=HWCIT. Accessed Dec. 29, 2011.
  4. Parvovirus B19 (Fifth disease). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/revb/respiratory/parvo_b19.htm.Accessed Dec. 29, 2011.
  5. de Jong EP, et al. Parvovirus B19 infection in pregnancy: New insights and management. Prenatal Diagnosis. 2011;31:419.
  6. Parvovirus B19 infection and pregnancy. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/revb/respiratory/b19&preg.htm. Accessed Dec. 29, 2011.
  7. Brown KE. The expanding range of parvoviruses which infect humans. Reviews in Medical Virology. 2010;20:231.
DS00437 April 12, 2012

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