[Parvovirus B19 infections in Germany 1987-1988]

3289 sera of patients were tested for Parvovirus B19 specific antibodies (IgM/IgG) by ELISA for routine virological diagnostics in 1987/1988. Acute B19 infection could be confirmed in 14.5%, while 24.4% were already immune and in 61.1% antibodies could not be detected. Only 0.12% of all sera were B19-DNA positive by nucleic acid hybridisation. The highest rate of acute B19 infections could be detected in the age-group of the 6-15 year old. Infections occurred above all in the period of January to July resp. August. The most frequent clinical manifestation of acute B19 infection was exanthema (54.4%) and arthritis/arthralgia (6.5%).