Seroprevalence of human herpesvirus-6 in healthy population in two provinces of north China.
BACKGROUND
Human herpesvirus-6 (HHV-6) infection is ubiquitous in selected population with seroprevalence of 60-80%. Little is known for that in China, except few sporadic studies. To understand prevalence of HHV-6 antibody in Chinese population, this seroepidemiological study was conducted.


METHODS
Sera were collected from 430 healthy persons and donors living in North China, and tested for HHV-6 antibodies using IFA with HHV-6 GS strain passaged on HSB-2 cells as antigen, and titer equal or higher than 1:10 was regarded as seropositive.


RESULTS
Of the 430 serum samples tested, 297 (69.1%) were positive for HHV-6 IgG. Both seropositive rate and GMT in females were significantly higher than those in males, with X2 = 7.05, P < 0.01 and F = 7.23, P < 0.01, respectively. Statistically significant difference in prevalence of HHV-6 antibody among various age groups was observed in both sexes, with X2 = 20.08 and 20.28, P = 0.04, respectively, and young children had a higher titer than adults. But, no significant difference in prevalence was observed in blood donors between various age groups or both sexes.


CONCLUSIONS
This study suggests that HHV-6 infection with seropositive IgG is ubiquitous in North China, and its importance should be further studied.
Wu
Z
Z
Department of Epidemiology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, CAMS & PUMC, Beijing 100005.
Mu
G
G
Wang
L
L
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D001782:Blood Donors; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006566:Herpesviridae Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015654:Herpesvirus 6, Human / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood*; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D012737:Sex Factors
D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D007074:Immunoglobulin G