Started in May 2023, the epidemic of cdc parvovirus b19 infections has intensified in recent months. Public Health France calls for increased vigilance by health professionals towards immunocompromised people and pregnant women. Four deaths are in fact linked to an infection of the mother.
Five babies have died from cdc parvovirus b19 infection since the start of 2024. Usually, the number of deaths amounts to 1.8 per year and mainly affects adults.
Recent intensification
In a recent press release, Public Health France warns of an intensification in recent weeks of the epidemic of cdc parvovirus b19 infections.
Started in May 2023, “it will continue its rise in 2024”, affecting all age categories and in particular children.
Rise in miscarriages
Although the precise data has not yet been quantified, perinatal services are warning of an increase in miscarriages and fetal deaths linked to this virus.
Laboratories have found cdc parvovirus b19 in amniotic fluid samples. Same trend for emergencies and intensive care doctors: severe infections are said to be increasing.
Virological surveillance confirms an increase in the number of diagnoses in all population groups studied.
Four of the five babies who died died in the very first days of life, after a maternal-fetal infection.
The fifth death occurred in an eight-month-old baby, who had neither comorbidity (associated disease) nor immunity problems.
The fifth disease
Human cdc parvovirus b19 causes an infection that is most often asymptomatic. In children, it can cause erythema infectiosum sometimes called “fifth disease”.
This name is used because this erythema infectiosum is considered the fifth viral infection that causes a rash in children, after measles, rubella, chickenpox and roseola.
This strictly human virus is transmitted mainly by the respiratory route.
Severe symptoms
Most often benign, cdc parvovirus b19 infection can cause severe symptoms in people with chronic hemolytic anemia, in immunocompromised people and in pregnant women.
The virus can in fact be responsible for miscarriages and fetal-placental hydrops (abnormal accumulation of fluid in the body of the fetus).
Sometimes myocarditis or encephalitis (inflammation of the heart or brain tissue) is observed.
An epidemic peak still not reached
The epidemic peak of the season has not yet been reached, estimates Public Health France. If the causes of this epidemic have not been established, they could be linked to the lifting of health measures after the Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting immune debt.
The French situation seems to be identical to that of several European countries (Denmark, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway).
Public Health France calls for particular attention to be paid to the following population groups: “people who are immunocompromised and people with chronic anemia in whom serious forms can occur, and pregnant women due to the risk of miscarriages and death fetal”.
The health agency recommends that they “consult a specialized service in the event of a reduction in active fetal movements”.
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