SHORT REPORT Association of acute parvovirus B19 infection with new onset of acute lymphoblastic and myeloblastic leukaemia

Aims: To investigate the association of acute parvovirus B19 infection with new onset of acute lymphoblastic and myeloblastic leukaemia. Methods: Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from patients with acute myelogenous leukaemia (AML) at diagnosis (n = 2) and acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) at diag-nosis (n = 14) were analysed for parvovirus B19 DNA by means of nested polymerase chain reaction. In addition, samples from patients with benign intracranial hypertension (BIH) (n = 10) and hydrocephalus (n = 13) were tested as controls. Results: Four leukaemia cases were positive—common ALL (n = 2), null cell ALL (n = 1), and M7 AML (n = 1)— whereas all controls were negative (Yates corrected x2 value, 3.97; p = 0.046; odds ratio, 16.92; confidence interval