title: Serum antibodies to polioviruses in a Tuscan population, Italy.
abstract: In order to study the serological status of a population against poliomyelitis, neutralizing antibody for the three types of polioviruses were examined in 742 serum specimens from individuals aged from 1 to 70 years and over were collected during 1985. Sixty-two percent of the sera had antibodies (titre greater than or equal to 1:8) to all three polioviruses, while 5% had no poliovirus antibody at all. However the rates of seropositivity did vary with age: the 10-19 age group had the lowest frequency of antibody (38%) to the three viruses and the difference between the percentage of this group and the previous (1-10 years) and following ones (20-70 years and over) was highly significant. The results of this seroprevalence survey indicate a gap in immunity to poliomyelitis in the population examined.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze dell'Ambiente e del Territorio, Università di Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Reali
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Carducci
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Ruschi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000032:analysis*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007558:Italy; D008875:Middle Aged; D011051:Poliomyelitis / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D017955:Poliovirus / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral