Letter to the Editor: Outbreaks caused by parvovirus B19

In a recent edition of Eurosurveillance Monthly, Gonçalves and colleagues reported that outbreaks of a rash illness in a kindergarten, primary and secondary school in the local health area of Braga in northern Portugal were due to human parvovirus B19 [1]. Although human parvovirus was suspected clinically, laboratory investigations were undertaken to exclude both measles and rubella as the cause of the outbreak, given that Portugal is approaching measles elimination. The authors noted that human parvovirus has been reported as a cause of rash illness, potentially as a differential diagnosis for measles and rubella, in developing and developed countries [1].