Seroepidemiologic study of human coronavirus OC43 infections in Italy.
Human Coronavirus OC43 from suckling mouse brain (SMB) suspension has been adapted to grow in human embryonic lung fibroblast cell cultures. Complement-fixing and hemagglutinating antigens were prepared from infected cell cultures and used in parallel with the same antigens from SMB for a study of the prevalence of OC43 antibody in Northern Italy as well as for the serodiagnosis of recent OC43 infections and reinfections. Results show (i) a higher sensitivity of the hemagglutination-inhibition as compared to the complement fixation test both for antibody detection in seroepidemiological studies and serodiagnosis of acute infections, (ii) a high prevalence of OC43 antibody in Northern Italy, so that only exceptionally are people older than 12 years seronegative, (iii) a high rate of OC43 reinfections during the winter-spring season 1976/77 in a population sample with preexisting antibody (iv) a good quality of reagents prepared from cell cultures, and hence free of contaminating mouse viruses, such as mouse hepatitis virus.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D000956:Antigens, Viral; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003168:Complement Fixation Tests; D003332:Coronaviridae / Q000276:immunology; D003333:Coronaviridae Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology*; D006385:Hemagglutination Inhibition Tests; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007558:Italy; D008875:Middle Aged; D012621:Seasons; D014776:Virus Cultivation
D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D000956:Antigens, Viral