This study evaluated blood samples from 2,500 individuals in Poland to determine how widespread parvovirus B19\u2014a common virus responsible for fifth disease (“slapped cheek” rash) in children\u2014is across different age groups. Over half of the tested population possessed antibodies indicating a prior infection. Immunity spiked during early school age and exceeded 80% among adults over 40. Importantly, about 40% of women of childbearing age lacked immunity\u2014a critical finding given that contracting parvovirus B19 during pregnancy can trigger severe complications, including fetal anemia and miscarriage. Overall, the study demonstrates that exposure is widespread across Poland regardless of gender or urban versus rural residence, with data identifying 1999 as a major epidemic year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My colleagues from the virology department organized this seroprevalence survey, and I collaborated with them to analyze the data and publish the findings. It was a great project and a wonderful learning experience!<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Article in Polish published in the journal Przegl\u0105d Epidemiologiczny [Epidemiological Review]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":1074,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"class_list":["post-1325","publikacje","type-publikacje","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pawel.stefanoff.pl\/work\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publikacje\/1325","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pawel.stefanoff.pl\/work\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publikacje"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pawel.stefanoff.pl\/work\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/publikacje"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pawel.stefanoff.pl\/work\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pawel.stefanoff.pl\/work\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}