All issues > Volume 47(3); 2004

Case Report

Korean J Pediatr. 2004;47(3):338-342. Published online March 15, 2004.

Two Pediatric Patients with Neutropenia and Thrombocytopenia Associated with Parvovirus B19 Infection

Dong Koo DK Kim¹, Young Dai YD Kim¹, Ho Jun HJ Lim², Sung Hee SH Oh¹, Hahng H Lee¹

¹Department of Pedriatics, College of Medicine, Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea
²Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, Gachon Medical School, Incheon, Korea

Correspondence Sung Hee SH Oh ,Email: sungheeo@hanyang.ac.kr

Abstract

Parvovirus B19, a member of the Erythrovirus genus, is the only member of the Parvoviridae family known to be pathogenic in humans. Haematological consequences of B19 infection arise due to a direct cytotoxic effect on erythroid progenitors in bone marrow, resulting in interruption of erythrocyte production. The physiology of host haematopoiesis and competence of the immune response each determines clinical manifestations of B19 infection. A search of the literature revealed that neutropenia and thrombocytopenia due to B19 have been rarely reported in healthy individuals. In Korea, B19 infection has been reported among individuals with underlying disorders such as leukemia or congenital spherocytosis. Among otherwise healthy persons, there have been few reported cases of B19 infection which resulted in anemia, leukopenia, and thrombocytopenia. We herein report, for the first time in Korea, of two children who experienced leukopenia and thrombocytopenia, but not anemia, after B19 infection and recovered uneventfully.

Keywords :Parvovirus B19, Hematologic disease, Neutropenia, Thrombocytopenia, Healthy children