Seroprevalence of Parvovirus B19 Antibodies in Young Women, Sanandaj, Iran

Human parvovirus B19 may transmit to the fetus via the placenta during pregnancy and cause serious complications such as severe fetal anemia, non-immune hydrops fetalis, and even intrauterine fetal death. The aim of this study was to determine the seroprevalence of parvovirus B19 antibodies among young women, Sanandaj, Iran. Ninety young women (15-40 years old) referring to clinical laboratory, Sanandaj, Iran, from January 2013 until June 2014 participated in this cross sectional study. In a questionnaire demographic data including age, job, education, place of residence, and history of illness, medications, pregnancy, history of abortion, and blood transfusion were collected. Women''s sera were screened for parvovirus B19 IgM and IgG antibodies using ELISA test. The collected data and ELISA results were entered to SPSS statistical software and analyzed using t-test, one-way ANOVA with Tukey post hoc and Chi-squire. Prevalence of parvovirus B19 IgG and IgM antibodies were 46.7% and 3.3%, respectively in our study population. There were no association between parvovirus antibodies and the demographic variables using t-test, and one-way ANOVA with Tukey post hoc and Chi-squire. We found that more than fifty percent of the subjects were susceptible to parvovirus B19. Also, IgM antibody was positive in 3.3% of women, indicates that there is an active transmission of the virus in our population. Therefore, if this infection occurs during pregnancy may be harmful to the fetus. Paying more attention is needed to determine the B19 immunity, especially in young women ready for marriage and pregnancy.