Risk of Adverse Outcomes of Pregnancy After Human Parvovirus B19 Infection

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Abstract
Human parvovirus B19 (B19) infection during pregnancy has been associated with fetal deaths. We conducted several studies to develop data needed to make recommendations for preventing fetal death associated with infection. In the first study, after an outbreak of B19 infection, specimens of cord blood from 47 infants with congenital anomalies, 10 with suspected intrauterine infection, and gestational age-matched controls weretested for IgG and IgM antibodies to B19. None had evidence ofrecent infection. Next, 192 women with unknown exposure to B19 who had stillbirths or spontaneous abortions were studied. Twopatients and two controls had evidence of recent B19 infection. In a second case-control study of women who had stillbirths after outbreaks of erythema infectiosum in area schools, none of the 20 patients or 26 controls were IgM positive at the time of delivery. The rate of infection, as demonstated by IgM positivity, among 267 pregnant control subjects was ∼1%. These studies suggest that among pregnant women unselected for exposure to B19, neither infection nor stillbirths are common.