Parvovirus B19 Infection and Severe Anemia in Renal Transplant Recipients

Abstract

Kidney transplant (KT) recipients can develop symptomatic Parvovirus (PV) B19 infections, frequently associated with persistent anemia. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence and clinical significance of PV B19 infection in anemic and non-anemic KT patients. Overall, out of 64 patients monitored for the presence of PV B19 by real-time PCR, 2 (3.12%) had an active PV B19 infection, in absence of other viral coinfections. The 2 cases occurred in nonanemic kidney transplant patients group (2/50, 4%), while none of the anemic transplant patients (0/14) was found to suffer from this infection. Moreover, patients affected by active PV B19 infection showed viral loads not exceeding 1×105 genome copies/reaction. In conclusion, in this study, PV B19 infection was not common in renal transplant population and wasn’t associated with severe anemia.