title: Prevalence of IgG antibodies against West Nile virus in blood donors during the 2003 outbreak in Tunisia.
abstract: This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of anti-West Nile virus (WNV) IgG among two populations of Tunisian blood donors living in areas where human outbreaks of WNV have occurred. Cohorts A (Monastir) and B (Mahdia) included 742 and 102 blood donors respectively. Sera were tested by IgG ELISA test and results were confirmed by PRNT test. WNV neutralizing antibodies were detected in 32 (4.3%) and in 14 (13.7%) sera in cohorts A and B respectively. The prevalence of anti-WNV IgG was significantly higher in cohort B than in cohort A (P<0.001) and was significantly lower in females than in males (P<0.001).
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire des Maladies Transmissibles (LR99-ES27), Faculté de Pharmacie, Rue Avicenne, 5000, Monastir, Tunisia. riabi samira@yahoo.fr
authors.forename: Samira
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Riabi
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gallian
authors.forename: Imed
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Gaaloul
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Simon
authors.forename: Rafik
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Harrath
authors.forename: Mohsen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hassine
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: de Micco
authors.forename: Mahjoub
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aouni
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D001782:Blood Donors; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014416:Tunisia / Q000453:epidemiology; D014901:West Nile Fever / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology*; D014902:West Nile virus / Q000276:immunology*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D007074:Immunoglobulin G