Immunity to varicella zoster virus among young adults: a decline prior to widespread uptake of varicella vaccines.
BACKGROUND
The epidemiology of chickenpox in Israel is changing, mainly due to the increasing - but not universal - uptake of varicella vaccine.


METHODS
We conducted a seroprevalence study of varicella zoster virus (VZV) antibodies among 536 Israeli military recruits 18 years of age, on the basis of a representative sample of sera collected in 2003.


RESULTS
The overall seroprevalence rate was 94.6%, which was significantly lower than that observed in a similar population in 1992 (98.4%, p < 0.001). The rate was lower among subjects whose fathers had less than 12 years of schooling (89.8%, p = 0.033). No statistically significant differences were observed when data were stratified by sex, subject's level of education, or origin.


CONCLUSIONS
This decline in the level of immunity must be considered when determining pre- and post-exposure vaccination policy among young adults in crowded environments.
Grotto
I
I
Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel. grotto@bgu.ac.il
Balicer
R D
RD
Smetana
Z
Z
Davidovitch
N
N
Bar-Zeev
Y
Y
Mendelson
E
E
Zarka
S
S
Huerta
M
M
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D002644:Chickenpox / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology*; D019433:Chickenpox Vaccine / Q000276:immunology*; D004198:Disease Susceptibility; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D019084:Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect; D014645:Herpesvirus 3, Human / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007557:Israel / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies
D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D019433:Chickenpox Vaccine