[Prevalence of antibodies to hantavirus among hemodialysis patients with end-stage renal failure in Kaunas and its district].
The objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence of antibodies to hantaviruses among hemodialysis patients with end-stage renal failure in Kaunas and its district.


METHODS
Serums of 218 patients from four dialysis centers of Kaunas district were tested by using the immunoglobulin G antibody-capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The reactivity of ELISA-positive sera was proven in Western blot tests using various hantavirus recombinant nucleocapsid proteins. The yeast-expressed nucleocapsid proteins were used for testing.


RESULTS
Antibodies against Dobrava/Hantaan and Puumala hantaviruses were found in 16 patients (seroprevalence 7.4%). Most of the sera were positive for Dobrava hantavirus (81%). The ratio of males to females was 1.2:1. Seroprevalence was significantly higher in older patients.


CONCLUSIONS
Results indicate that antibodies to two hantaviruses (Dobrava/Hantaan virus and Puumala virus) are prevalent among hemodialysis patients in Kaunas district with approximately the same seroprevalence as in neighboring countries.
Dargevicius
Arvydas
A
Department of Nephrology, Kaunas University of Medicine, Kaunas, Lithuania. arvydas.dargevicius@gmail.com
Petraityte
Rasa
R
Sribikiene
Birute
B
Sileikiene
Elvyra
E
Razukeviciene
Loreta
L
Ziginskiene
Edita
E
Vorobjoviene
Rita
R
Razanskiene
Ausra
A
Sasnauskas
Kestutis
K
Bumblyte
Inga Arūne
IA
Kuzminskis
Vytautas
V
D000368:Aged; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D015153:Blotting, Western; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D018063:Hantaan virus / Q000276:immunology; D006476:Orthohantavirus / Q000276:immunology*; D018778:Hantavirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006480:Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000628:therapy*; D008097:Lithuania / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D029262:Puumala virus / Q000276:immunology; D006435:Renal Dialysis; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D000914:Antibodies, Viral