A study of Cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr virus and Herpesvirus hominis (types 1 and 2) antibody in institutionalized and non-institutionalized children.
In an attempt to demonstrate differences in antibody prevalence between free-living and institutionalized children, antibodies to Cytomegalovirus (CMV), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), and Herpesvirus hominis (HVH), types 1 and 2, were assayed in 123 children. The children comprised three groups consisting of 41 institutionalized patients with Down's syndrome (all non-disjunctive trisomy-G karyotype and equal numbers of age-, sex-, and race-matched non-mongoloid institutionalized subjects and non-institutionalized normal controls. CMV antibody titer values were statistically similar in the three groups. However, fewer mongoloids (21.9%) were seropositive than other institutionalized retardates (39.0%) and normal control subjects (43.9%). Antibody titer values to EBV were also similar; however, in comparison to the other groups, significantly more mongoloids were seropositive at younger ages. More mongoloids were seropositive to HVH-1 and had higher antibody titers than the other two groups. Antibody to HVH-2 was more prevalent in institutionalized subjects, 85.4% in mongoloids and 65.8% in other institutionalized retardates, than in normal non-institutionalized children (26.8%).
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000032:analysis*; D002648:Child; D002674:Child, Institutionalized; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003587:Cytomegalovirus / Q000276:immunology*; D004314:Down Syndrome / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D018139:Simplexvirus / Q000276:immunology*
D000914:Antibodies, Viral