ABSTRACT
The story of the discovery of B19 virus resembles in some ways that of some human enteroviruses. Volunteer experiments have of course also been useful by making it possible to study in detail the exact duration of the incubation period and the association between symptoms and virus shedding etc. The initial idea behind doing volunteer experiments with B19 virus arose from the early reports that children with sickle cell disease and acute erythroid aplasia showed evidence of infection in that they often gave a history of respiratory symptoms a week or so before they were admitted. In the Common Cold Unit, the volunteers remained in isolation for the first few days and were found healthy by clinical examination and by routine biochemical and hematological tests. The viremia could be asymptomatic but was also associated with malaise, myalgia, or transient fever. Clear-cut abnormalities were also observed in the hematological examination of the isolated patients.
