An outbreak of erythema infectiosum associated with human parvovirus infection

M. J. Anderson*, E. Lewis, Michael Kidd, S. M. Hall, B. J. Cohen

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

290 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Erythema infectiosum (EI) or fifth disease is a mild, acute exanthematous disease, occurring mainly among children, for which a causative virus has long been sought. In May 1983 an outbreak of exanthematous illness was reported in a primary school in North London. Children attending the school were investigated by questionnaire and 162 (43·9%) reported an illness with the features of EI. In each of 36 cases investigated virologically the illness was associated with parvovirus infection. Moreoever, pre-existing antibody to parvovirus was correlated with protection from EI in 16 of 17 close family contacts of cases. We propose therefore that EI is the common manifestation of infection with the human parvovirus.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)85-93
Number of pages9
JournalJournal of Hygiene
Volume93
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Aug 1984

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