Rheumatic manifestations and sequela of acute parvovirus B19 infection in hospitalized adult population

Background

Parvovirus B19 infection has been associated with various clinical entities including musculoskeletal manifestations and the development of different autoimmune diseases. The aim of our study is to examine the musculoskeletal manifestations associated with acute parvovirus B19 infection and the possible development of chronic autoimmune rheumatic diseases.

Patients and Methods

Retrospective cohort study that included adult hospitalized patients diagnosed with an acute parvovirus B19 infection between 1 January 2021 and 1 February 2024. Subjects were followed-up for 6–12 months after hospitalization aiming to identify patients who developed chronic autoimmune rheumatic diseases.

Results

The study included 23 patients diagnosed with acute parvovirus B19 infection. Patients were predominantly females (16, 69.6%) with mean age at diagnosis of 39.3 ± 13.11 years. Most patients were Jewish (15, 65.2%). The two most common acute symptoms were fever (82.6%) and myalgia (56.5%). Polyarthritis was present only in three patients (13%) and all of them had wrists involvement. Anti-nuclear antibodies and rheumatoid factor were the most common autoantibodies present with equal prevalence each (13%). Five patients were treated with prednisone during the acute phase (21%), two (8.7%) of them needed drug escalation and were subsequently treated with hydroxychloroquine and methotrexate. One patient developed systemic lupus erythematosus during the first 6 months of follow-up.

Conclusion

Musculoskeletal manifestations developing during acute parvovirus B19 are usually self-limited with only a small minority of patients developing chronic autoimmune diseases. It is crucial to differentiate self-limited manifestations related to acute parvovirus B19 from idiopathic autoimmune diseases aiming to avoid unnecessary immunosuppressive therapy.