Diagnóstico virológico de un brote de fiebre y rash producido por Parvovirus B19, Cuba, 1995

the results obtained in the study of an aoutbreak of fever and reash ocurred in havana city in march, 1995, are reported. dengue, measles, rubella, herpes simplex, and epstein barr were discarded as causal agents of the outbreak in the samples of 35 patients. parvovirus b19 was identified as the causing agent of the outbreak by the detection of igm antibodies and the polymerase chain reaction technique (pcr). the infection produced by this agent was confirmed in 14/18 samples (77,7 %) by some of the techniques used. this study makes reference to the first outbreak of parvovirus b19 that was proved in cuba.