Human Parvovirus 4 Viremia in Young Children, Ghana

Absence of novel human parvovirus (PARV4) in Danish mothers and children

“…We found no evidence of PARV4 in one-year-old children, which is in line with studies of children from Sweden, Finland, and UK, which did not detect PARV4 DNA in serum, respiratory samples, or tissue biopsies [14][15][16][17]. In contrast, 2-9% of 15-months-old children in Ghana had detectable PARV4 DNA in blood [11,12], indicating that PARV4 is more common in children in Africa than in Western countries. In that study, risk factors found to be associated with PARV4 viraemia were not having access to a kitchen and living close to a river, suggesting that food borne or smear transmission may be possible in that location -a finding that can be difficult to trace in an industrialized setting.…”

“…However, studies of the seroepidemiology from Sub-Saharan Africa show seroprevalences of PARV4 in HIV-and hepatitis C virus negative adults between 4.4% and 37.1%, which cannot be accounted for by parenteral exposure alone [10]. Two recent studies of 15-months-old children from Ghana without signs of acute infection report PARV4 viraemia in 2/94 (2.1%) and 32/361 (8.9%) of children, respectively [11,12]. PARV4 viraemia increased to 22/185 (11.9%) in 24-months-old children [12].…”

Human Parvovirus 4 Infection among Mothers and Children in South Africa

“…We detected IgG against PARV4 in 58 (37%) of 157 patients; this proportion is broadly comparable with that reported from other settings in sub-Saharan Africa, including Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and a previous cohort of HIV-infected persons in South Africa ( 5 ). Although routes of transmission in Africa remain to be characterized, these high seroprevalence rates support the possibility that some PARV4 transmission may be occurring by nonparenteral routes, as suggested by others ( 5 , 10 ).…”

Human Parvoviruses

“…Genotype 3, in contrast, has been detected in non-drug users in sub-Saharan Africa, where viral DNA has been found in nasal and stool samples of children, indicating foodborne, respiratory, or contact spread (1158)(1159)(1160)(1161). PARV4 DNA has been detected in plasma during acute infection but often with a low viral load (Ͻ3 ϫ 10 4 vgc/ml) (1153,1162,1163). The highest PARV4 load reported for acute viremia so far is 10 10 vgc/ml (1153).…”