PARVOVIRUS 819 IN RENAL TRANSPLANT PATIENTS

Abstract

Parvovirus 819 is the only member of the family of parvoviridae that is known to be pathogenic to man, which is small, single -stranded DNA virus with no envelop. Parvovirus . 819 has three important proteins:

•:• Two structural proteins (VP1 and VP2) and

•:• One non-structural protein (NS1).

There are five major clinical manifestations of parvovirus 819 infection:

1. Aplastic cnsis, mainly 1n patients with chronic hemolytic anemia. 2. Exanthematous disease (erythema infectiosum) in children and adults. 3. Myalgia, arthralgia or arthritis in adults, mainly women, and children. 4. Hydrops fetalis and intrauterine fetal death, after

maternal infection during pregnancy.

5. Persistent infection manifested as chronic anemia, in immune-compromised hosts.

Antibody assay by ELISA and DNA detection by PCR are the most important techniques in the diagnosis of parvovirus 819 infection. In routine practice the detection of specific antibodies (lgG and lgM) is most frequently used. In fetal