Parvovirus B19 and togavirus-associated arthritis

Several viruses are able to cause acute and chronic arthritides or may influence the clinical course of other inflammatory rheumatic diseases. Besides hepatitis viruses and HIV which will be discussed in other articles of this journal, parvovirus B19 and the members of the family of togaviridae, rubella virus and alpha viruses, are of special rheumatologic interest. Noteworthy, although less important, are arthritides caused by measles and mumps viruses. In this article, we describe the pathogenesis, clinical picture, and diagnosis of the rheumatologic syndromes caused by these viruses.