The seroprevalence of Parvovirus B19 among kidney transplant recipients: a single-center study.

Parvovirus B19 is a DNA virus that is responsible for causing several diseases in
humans. Parvovirus B19-induced persistent anemia is one of its manifestations that is relatively
common in transplant recipients. This study was aimed to investigate the seroprevalence of parvovirus
B19 among kidney transplant recipients. Ninety-one transplant recipients were selected randomly
and were investigated for several variables including age, gender, educational status,
history of hemodialysis (HD), history of blood transfusion and immunosuppressive therapy. Two
milliliters of blood samples were collected via venipuncture and evaluated for anti-Parvovirus
B19 IgG antibody using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. All recipients were anemic, with
72.5% of them suffering from severe anemia (Hb ≤11 in men and ≤10 in women). Sixty-three
patients (69.2%) were seropositive for Parvovirus B19. There was no significant difference in age,
sex, educational status, history of blood transfusion, history of HD and immunosuppressive therapy
between seropositive and seronegative groups. The seroprevalence of Parvovirus B19 was
relatively high in kidney transplant recipients in Urmia, Iran. Our study failed to find a correlation
between the severity of anemia and the seropositivity of Parvovirus B19