title: Prevalence of anti-human respiratory syncytial virus antibodies over three consecutive years in a healthy adult population.
abstract: The titers of anti-human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV) antibodies have been measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in a cohort of healthy adult volunteers over 3 consecutive years. Significant increases in the level of these antibodies were detected in a small percentage of individuals (3-3.3%), when paired serum samples taken from two consecutive seasons were compared. In these cases, a significant increase was generally noted in the level of antibodies directed against either the F or the G glycoproteins, and in the level of neutralizing antibodies. However, no correlation was found between the level of binding and neutralizing antibodies, when samples representative of the population under study were analyzed. These results indicate some level of infection by HRSV in the adult population. The implications of these results for the epidemiology of HRSV are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Biología Viral, Centro Nacional de Microbiología, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Majadahonda, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Silvia R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Chala
authors.forename: Blanca
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: García-Barreno
authors.forename: José A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Melero
authors.forename: Concepción
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Palomo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009500:Neutralization Tests; D015995:Prevalence; D018357:Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology; D018113:Respiratory Syncytial Virus, Human / Q000276:immunology*; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral