CHRONIC PARVOVIRUS B19 INFECTION RESULTING IN CHRONIC-FATIGUE-SYNDROME - CASE-HISTORY AND REVIEW

The spectrum of disease caused by parvovirus B19 has been expanding in recent years because of improved and more sensitive methods of detect ion. There is evidence to suggest that chronic infection occurs in pat ients who are not detectably immunosuppressed. We report the case of a young woman with recurrent fever and a syndrome indistinguishable fro m chronic fatigue syndrome. After extensive investigation, we found pe rsistent parvovirus B19 viremia, which was detectable by polymerase ch ain reaction (PCR) despite the presence of IgM and IgG antibodies to p arvovirus B19. Testing of samples from this patient suggested that in some low viremic states parvovirus B19 DNA is detectable by nested PCR in plasma but not in serum. The patient's fever resolved with the adm inistration of intravenous immunoglobulin.