how to recognize it – The Time

Moms and dads notice its presence when their children’s cheeks suddenly turn red. This rash is one of the most characteristic symptoms of parvovirus B19, better known as fifth disease, an infection that in healthy children and adults is relatively mild or even asymptomatic, but in some groups of people, such as immunosuppressed or affected by hematological diseases such as sickle cell anemia, and in pregnant women, it can be more serious. After a collapse during the pandemic, experts are reporting a surge: cases are increasing in Europe, and in the USA there is a real boom.

A focus dedicated to the infectious disease in the scientific journal ‘Jama online’ takes stock. The numbers collected by the CDC (American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) give an idea, they are defined as “impressive”: considering all age groups, the share of people with IgM antibodies against parvovirus B19, a sign of recent infection, increased from less than 3% in 2022-2024 to 10% in June 2024. Among children aged 5-9 years, the percentage even jumped from 15% in 2022-2024 to 40% in June 2024. And among the plasma samples collected, the share with a high concentration of parvovirus DNA increased from 1.5% in December 2023 to 19.9% ​​in June 2024. The infection is transmitted mainly through droplets emitted by coughing or sneezing by an infected person. The growth in cases recorded in the US has prompted the CDC to recently issue a health warning on the matter, also because there is no vaccine or antiviral therapy for the infection.

Given the increase this year, “healthcare providers really need to be on the lookout” for parvovirus B19 infection among high-risk patients, Alfonso Hernandez-Romieu, a medical officer with the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, warned in Jama Medical News. It’s probably no coincidence, experts say, that parvovirus B19 infections appeared to decline during the early years of the Covid pandemic, when distance learning and social distancing introduced to stop SARS-CoV-2 minimized contact among children. In 2018-2019, the highest levels of positive tests, which were among children ages 3 to 5, were 2% to 5%, Hernandez-Romieu noted. In 2021-2022, during the pandemic, rates in that age group have fallen to less than 1%. But it now appears that parvovirus B19 is making up for lost time “following the same pattern as so many other pathogens” such as respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), highlights Alasdair Munro, of the UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Research.