title: The incidence of human parvovirus B19 infection during pregnancy and its impact on perinatal outcome.
abstract: A prospective study of parvovirus B19 infection during pregnancy was conducted at a large teaching hospital in Barcelona, Spain. Women (1610) who were < 28 weeks pregnant at enrollment were screened for parvovirus infection. The prevalence of IgG positivity was 35.03% (564/1610). The incidence of acute infection during pregnancy was 3.7% (60/1610). There were five abortions among the B19-infected women but only one was caused by parvovirus, as assessed by histologic examination and polymerase chain reaction assay. The incidence of fetal loss caused by parvovirus was, therefore, 1.66% (1/60). The remaining 55 pregnancies were uneventful, and at 1 year of age, none of the infants had serious abnormalities. The incidence of vertical transmission of infection was estimated at 25%. This study provides evidence that although acute parvovirus infection may occur relatively commonly during pregnancy, an adverse fetal outcome is a rare complication.
authors.affiliation: Departament d'Obstetrícia i Ginecologia, Hospital Clínic, Universitat de Barcelona, Catalunya, Spain.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gratacós
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Torres
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vidal
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Antolín
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.forename: M T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Jiménez de Anta
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Cararach
authors.forename: P L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Alonso
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fortuny
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood; D016731:Erythema Infectiosum / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000635:transmission; D005260:Female; D005312:Fetal Blood; D005333:Fetus / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D018445:Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical; D016732:Parvovirus B19, Human / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral