Persistent human parvovirus B19 infection following an acute infection with meningitis in an immunocompetent patient.

A case in which parvovirus B19 infection persisted over a prolonged period of time in the blood of an immunocompetent patient following an acute infection with meningitis is reported. Using a nested polymerase chain reaction assay the viral genome was detected in cerebrospinal fluid as well as in blood at the time of overt disease and in consecutive blood samples collected for up to nine months.