Infection due to parvovirus B19 in patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus

Parvovirus B19 has been described as a cause of chronic anemia in immunosuppressed patients, including those infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). In this study serological assays and the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were used to establish the prevalence of both prior and active infection due to parvovirus B19 among a general population of 105 HIV-infected individuals (cohort I) and among 22 HIV-infected patients with anemia (cohort II). Eight individuals in cohort I (7.6%) had IgG antibodies to parvovirus B19, while none had B19-specific IgM antibodies. In cohort II, four patients (18.2%) had B19-specific IgG antibodies and none had IgM antibodies. Only one person in cohort I (0.95%) and one person in cohort II (4.5%) had evidence on PCR of persistent infection with parvovirus B19; both of these patients lacked IgG and IgM antibodies to parvovirus. Both individuals with B19 viremia were anemic and had CD4 lymphocyte counts suggesting advanced immunosuppression (< 50/mm3). The observed low prevalences of B19 seropositivity and active B19 infection differ from the rates documented in previous studies and indicate that infection with parvovirus B19 is uncommon in some groups of HIV-infected patients.