[Exanthematous outbreak caused by human parvovirus B19 in a school in Banderaló, Argentina].

We report an exanthematic outbreak in a school of Banderaló town, located in the district of General Villegas, Buenos Aires province, Argentina. This outbreak affected 21 individuals, with a wide range of age (out of a total population of 1400). The observed clinical manifestations were exanthema and in some cases fever, asthenia, arthropathies and myalgia. The presence of specific IgM antibodies against measles, rubella and human parvovirus B19 were investigated. Analysis of IgM antibodies to parvovirus B19 by ELISA was positive in 90.8% of the cases and viremia was detected in 66.7% of the patients by nested PCR. These results indicate that human parvovirus B19 was the etiologic agent of the outbreak and they confirm its circulation in Argentina. Moreover, this study demonstrates that PCR may be useful for the study of transmission foci and of individuals with prolongued clinical manifestations. We consider that it is necessary to include the differential diagnosis of human parvovirus B19 in the surveillance of exanthematic virosis.