Natural infection with Japanese encephalitis virus among inhabitants of Japan: a nationwide survey of antibodies against nonstructural 1 protein.
In Japan, only a few cases of Japanese encephalitis presently occur annually, raising arguments about the necessity of vaccination. Here, using a novel immunoassay, we obtained natural infection rates for 2001 of 0.2-3.4% in eight selected prefectures across Japan. Our results provide direct evidence of the risk of reemergence.
Konishi
Eiji
E
Department of Health Sciences, Kobe University School of Medicine, 7-10-2 Tomogaoka, Suma-ku, Kobe 654-0142, Japan. ekon@ams.kobe-u.ac.jp
Shoda
Mizue
M
Yamamoto
Seigo
S
Arai
Satoru
S
Tanaka-Taya
Keiko
K
Okabe
Nobuhiko
N
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004664:Encephalitis Virus, Japanese / Q000276:immunology*; D004672:Encephalitis, Japanese / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007118:Immunoassay; D007223:Infant; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins / Q000276:immunology*
D000914:Antibodies, Viral; C100315:NS1 protein, Flavivirus; D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins