title: Comparison of HHV-6 antibody titers in West Africa and the Caribbean.
abstract: Human herpesvirus-6 (HHV-6) infection seems to be ubiquitous early in life, but antibody responses vary by geographic area. We compared HHV-6 antibody titer in 123 West African and 122 Caribbean serum samples. A quantitative immunofluorescence assay (IFA) using antigens derived from an HSB-2 cell line was used to test for IgG HHV-6 (GS strain) antibodies. The prevalence of HHV-6 antibodies was high (98%) in both sites. African samples had a significantly higher geometric mean titer (GMT: 697) than did Caribbean samples (GMT: 99). There was no difference between males (GMT: 260) and females (GMT: 270) overall. Children up to and including 9 years old had significantly higher titers (GMT: 483) than did all others (GMT: 237), and female children tended to have higher titers than did male children. In both areas there was a trend towards highest titer at younger age, followed by a decrease in titer during adulthood and middle age, and a secondary rise in titer in the oldest age group. Environmental and host factors may explain these geographic differences in antibody responses between two groups of African origin.
authors.affiliation: Viral Epidemiology Branch, NCI, Rockville, MD 20852, USA.
authors.forename: F R
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Cleghorn
authors.forename: K A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Maybank
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Jack
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pate
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mingle
authors.forename: P H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Levine
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Manns
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D017691:Caribbean Region / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D019085:Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Direct; D005869:Ghana / Q000453:epidemiology; D006566:Herpesviridae Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology*; D015654:Herpesvirus 6, Human / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D017678:Sex Distribution
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral