[Infection with parvovirus B19: typical course of erythema infectiosum and its complications].

Severe chronic anemia, transitory aplastic crisis (TAC), and lethal hydrops fetalis may be due to an infection with parvovirus B19 i.e. the causative agent of erythema infectiosum. 80% of the patients infected with B19 develop clinical symptoms and typically show the picture of erythema infectiosum--as one of our case reports (daughter) is going to illustrate. Part of the cases, however, take a course without the characteristic slapped-face rash; here we frequently find acute arthritis and arthralgia, as well as fever and rubella-like or purpura-like rashes, predominantly on the smaller joints (mother). In immuno-compromised patients, those with hematologic disorders, as well as in pregnancy, the diseases may take a life-threatening course. In the cases without the characteristic rash, the diagnosis has to be proved by the detection of either antibodies against parvovirus B19 or the virus itself; however, the test kits required are not readily available. Since there is no generally accepted treatment of the infection, as yet, the most important measure on the medical side is the prevention of the infection by means of isolation and other procedures. The problem we face here, however, is the fact that the danger of infection is highest during the viremic phase of the disease, when the patient is still asymptomatic.