Parvovirus B19 Spreads Across 12-Plus Northern California Wastewater Systems as Flu Season Eases
Updated
Updated · NTD · May 14
Parvovirus B19 Spreads Across 12-Plus Northern California Wastewater Systems as Flu Season Eases
7 articles · Updated · NTD · May 14
New wastewater data detected parvovirus B19 in more than a dozen Northern California communities, including San Francisco, Sacramento, Napa, San Jose and Palo Alto, signaling broad regional circulation.
Moderate positive levels were recorded in six systems—San Francisco, Sacramento, Napa, Davis, Redwood City and San Jose—as the virus appears while flu season winds down.
Parvovirus B19 usually causes mild illness: children often develop fever and the hallmark bright-red facial rash, while adults more often get painful, swollen or stiff joints lasting one to three weeks.
Pregnant women, immunocompromised people and those with blood disorders face higher risks, with infection during early pregnancy rarely linked to severe fetal anemia, miscarriage or stillbirth.
No vaccine is available, and health officials are urging handwashing, covering coughs and sneezes, avoiding sick contacts and not sharing food or drinks.
Why is there no vaccine for a common virus that can cause stillbirth?
A child's rash virus causes lasting adult arthritis. How does this happen?
Is wastewater surveillance revealing new viral threats or just making invisible ones visible?