Occurrence and clinical role of active parvovirus B19 infection in transplant recipients

To evaluate the occurrence and clinical role of active parvovirus B19 infection in solid organ and bone marrow transplant recipients, 256 serum samples from 212 transplant patients were investigated retrospectively by competitive polymerase chain reaction. Sera were drawn during the transplantation period and up to 6 months after transplantation during a nonepidemic 1-year period. Three patients were found positive for B19 DNA; only one liver transplant patient had a clinically overt B19 infection. Overall, the rate of active parvovirus B19 infection in transplant subjects was low (1.42%), probably due to the high number of actively or passively immunized subjects among transplant recipients; this may also account for the asymptomatic infections observed.