Parvovirus B19: A Different Kind of Pathogen

Blood transfusions save lives. There is no other way to couch it. There is no other way to stress its importance. Without this service thither would be no other way to save those who are victims of gunfire wounds, accidents that settlemented in major transmission line loss, surgeries that require transfusion and many more medical procedures that require the availability of safe kind.As mentioned earlier blood banks stomach reached a level of sophistication that tummy assure safe blood processing, sterilisation, stor advance and finally transfusion. In information tack together in the twelfth International Convocation on Immunology one tooshie see that in the 20th century it is almost impossible to find spoiled blood such as those having HIV, Hepatitis B and C computer viruses in blood banks (C.J. vanguard Oss, 1995).Yet, in the same convention, the delegates had to agree that there are still pathogens that could non be eliminated using conventional methods. And one of t hose pathogens is called parvovirus B19, which is also cognise as human parvovirus. It is therefore important to test for the movement of parvovirus B19 in donated blood. The importance of which will be seen later as interpolation of the virus to at risk patients nooky be fatal.Parvovirus B19According to Broliden, Tolfvenstam, & Norbeck (2006) B19 is thought to completely infect humans, and shows a pronounced tropism for erythroid precursors.Moreover, they added that with regards to transmitting shows a seasonal worker variation in temperature climates, being more common during the winter and archean spring B19 is normally transmitted through the respiratory route, but can also be transmitted vertically from the mother to the foetus, through BM and organ tranplantations, and via transfused blood products (Broliden, Tolfvenstam, & Norbeck, 2006).A more technical description of the virus can be found in Murphy and Pamphilons work and the authors make the following remarks conc erning the human parvovirusThe parvoviruses are one of the smallest deoxyribonucleic acid viruses that infect humans. They are real(prenominal) stable non-enveloped viruses that are resistant to many chemic and physical inactivation techniques. Parvovirus B19 is the only definite member of the genus erythrovirus the virus replicates in erythroid progenitor cells (1995).In the world of Pediatrics, Katie Barnes highlights the following attributes of the virus1. Parvovirus B19 (human parvovirus) is the causative agent for erythema infectiosum or fifth part disease so named because it was the fifth disease to be depict with confusable rashes like measles, rubella, scarlet pyrexia and roscola.2. It appears commonly as an erythermatous, macular, papular rash in a patient that other than is a febrile and well appearing.3. Due to the ever-present nature of the virus, friendship outbreaks are common. Infection is possible throughout the year.4. Infection can result in transient apla stic crisis (TAC) among children with he crimsonitary haemolytic anaemia like sickle cell disease, spherocytosis and thalassaemia or marked immunosuppression.5. B19 infection among pregnant women has been tie in to fetal infection and subsequent pregnancy loss and spontaneous abortion.6. B19 infection is widespread and occurs worldwide. School-aged children are most frequently affected and highest incidence can be found among children between 5 to 15 years of age (2003).In addition to the above here is another facet of the virus that informs on those who are at high risk when infected with B19 it does interfere with red cell production in the marrow and a recipient with a compensated haemolytic anaemia may have a very abrupt and dangerous fall in haemoglobin when exposed to this virus. An immunologically damage recipient of the virus may be unable to eliminate the virus, and flagitious chronic anaemia may result (C.J. van Oss, 1995).DetectionDetecting the presence of B19 virus i n donated blood would not be an easy task. As described earlier the human parvovirus is one of the smallest DNA viruses ever found (Murphy & Pamphilon, 1995).Peterlana et al (2006) described some of the standard assays that was used for detecting the presence of B191. Dot Blot Hybridization this uses cloned viral DNA and was found to be crude to 104 viral particles.2. Nucleic Acid Amplification Technology2.1 Polymerase Chain answers (PCR) more sensitive than Dot Blot Hybridization assay because it could detect 100 fg viral DNA (gel electrophoresis and ethidium bromide staining and 10 fg viral DNA (hybridization).2.2 nested-PCR a thousand fold improvement in sensitivity as compared to PCR2.3 real-time PCR this is a fluorescence-based assay, which combines amplification and detection in a unlikeable system and can produce quantitative results in a very short time. Real-time PCR has been reported to be more sensitive than conventional PCR.Schneider et al., (2005) do stand by the result of real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction procedure. This was carried out using a LightCycler a Parvovirus B19 Quantification Kit from Roche Diagnostics.A similar approach was described by Koppelman and Cuypers that would soon be standard European practice, testing with a quantitative PV-B19 NAT (nucleic acid amplification technology) assay (2002).