Successful High-Titer Immunoglobulin Therapy for Persistent Parvovirus B19 Infection in a Lymphoma Patient Treated with Rituximab-Combined Chemotherapy

Diksha Gimekar, Meenakshi Bhattacharya

Abstract: Persistent parvovirus B19 infection is likely to develop in the absence of appropriate immune responses. Because this virus has a tropism for human erythroid progenitor cells and induces apoptosis in the infected cells, persistent infection causes pure red cell aplasia (PRCA) [1?3]. Rituximab is a chimeric monoclonal antibody against B-cell antigen (CD20) and currently is used to treat several B-cell lymphoproliferative diseases. Although chemotherapy combined with rituximab results in excellent treatment of B-cell lymphoproliferative disease, this strategy seems to reduce humoral and cellular immunity [5]. Recent reports showed that persistent parvovirus B19 infection may occur after antibody-combined chemotherapy against lymphoma [6?8].

Keywords: Rituximab, Chemotherapy, High-Titer Immunoglobulin Therapy