Clinical presentation of parvovirus B19 infection in children with aplastic crisis

The records of 22 children with parvovirus B19-induced aplastic crisis were reviewed. The group consisted of 16 children with sickle cell hemoglobinopathies and 6 with hereditary spherocytosis. Children presented to the hospital 0.5 to 8 days (mean, 2.4 days) after the onset of symptoms. The children with sickle-cell disease presented earlier (mean, 1.4 days) than did children with hereditary spherocytosis (mean, 5 days; P = 0.02. Fever was the most common symptom, occurring in 73% of children. Rash did not occur in either group. Reticulocyte counts began to rise 1 week after onset of illness associated with a rise in parvovirus B19-specific IgG antibody. These data suggest that parvovirus B19 infection in children with sickle-cell hemoglobinopathies and heredity spherocytosis differs from infection in normal children.