A surge within the human parvovirus has caught the eye of the CDC : NPR

A MARTÍNEZ, BYLINE: A brand new respiratory virus is on the rise. It is known as parvovirus, and the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention just lately put out a well being alert. NPR’s Pien Huang joins us now to inform us all about it. Pien, so parvovirus seems like a canine factor. Why ought to folks be apprehensive about it?

PIEN HUANG, BYLINE: It does sound like a canine factor, and there’s a model that impacts canine. Folks would possibly vaccinate their pets in opposition to it. However I do wish to be clear that this can be a completely different parvovirus. So people cannot get parvovirus from canine, however there’s a human model. It is in the identical household, nevertheless it’s a distinct virus. And the one which well being officers are apprehensive about proper now’s a pressure known as parvovirus B19. It is tremendous contagious. It spreads from individual to individual, principally by way of sneezing and coughing – principally, respiratory droplets.

MARTÍNEZ: OK, sounds yucky. So what are the signs in case you catch it?

HUANG: Properly, A, it is really a reasonably widespread childhood an infection. About half of the folks within the U.S. have gotten it and recovered by the age of 20. I spoke with Dr. Jeffrey Starke. He is a specialist in infectious ailments at Texas Kids’s Hospital in Houston. And he says that in lots of instances, individuals who get it don’t have any signs or very delicate ones.

JEFFREY STARKE: It actually simply begins out with fever – fever, fever, fever – for a number of days. So there’s nothing notably distinct concerning the sickness. After which typically after a couple of days is when the kid actually begins to interrupt out right into a rash.

HUANG: And that rash is what provides it its nickname. It is known as slapped-cheek syndrome, which refers back to the face getting very crimson. It is also known as fifth illness – No. 5 – since an inventory from means again within the 1900s listed it on an inventory of rash-causing ailments together with issues like measles and scarlet fever. And that rash is definitely an immune response to the virus. Most often, as soon as folks get that rash, it signifies that they don’t seem to be contagious anymore and so they’re effectively on their solution to getting higher.

MARTÍNEZ: However delicate for many, as was talked about. Who’s it harmful for?

HUANG: So it may be very harmful for people who find themselves pregnant or folks with weakened immune programs or blood issues. And that is as a result of this virus really messes with crimson blood cell manufacturing. And proper now, docs are seeing a surge in problems, like hospitalizations in youngsters with sickle cell and fetal anemia in pregnant girls, which then requires, like, blood transfusions.

MARTÍNEZ: So what’s accounting for this surge proper now?

HUANG: So it isn’t completely clear. I imply, one of many principal theories is that it is making a comeback after COVID. I spoke with Dr. Alfonso Hernandez with CDC, who says that in COVID, when folks stayed house and socially distanced…

ALFONSO HERNANDEZ: There was a lot much less transmission and so immunity decreased so much, particularly among the many youthful age teams, and that is why we’re seeing a resurgence in youngsters proper now.

HUANG: Now, he says that they see surges of parvovirus typically each three to 4 years, however this one is fairly massive. And he says that the degrees now appear to be two to 3 occasions greater than the final surge in 2019. In order that they’re additionally whether or not there are modifications to the virus making it extra contagious, extra extreme than it has been previously. So the underside line right here is that if you’re a typically wholesome individual, you will in all probability recuperate simply high-quality in case you relaxation up and care for your self. However there is no such thing as a vaccine. So in case you’re an individual at better danger – say, in case you’re pregnant or immunocompromised – you will wish to be further cautious.

MARTÍNEZ: All proper, that is NPR’s Pien Huang. Thanks very a lot.

HUANG: You are welcome.

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