Low seroprevalence of parvovirus B19 in Taiwanese children and young adults.
BACKGROUND
This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of parvovirus B19 antibodies in children and young adults aged=30 years old in Taiwan.


METHODS
Stored serum samples from healthy volunteers aged 1-29 years in Taipei were randomly selected and tested for antiparvovirus B19 immunoglobulin G by enzyme immunoassay.


RESULTS
A total of 277 serum samples were tested. The overall seroprevalence of parvovirus B19 in Taiwanese children and young adults was 23.1% (64/277) in 2004. The positive rate increased slightly with age; it ranged from 15.0% in those aged 1-4 years to 30.8% in those aged 25-29 years (trend test, p=0.01). The age-adjusted anti-B19 immunoglobulin G seropositive rate was slightly higher in males (27.8%) than in females (18.8%; adjusted odds ratio: 0.56; 95% confidence interval: 0.32-0.99).


CONCLUSIONS
Most children and young adults in Taipei City are not immune to parvovirus B19, suggesting that no parvovirus B19 epidemic has occurred in the last few decades.
Centers for Disease Control, Department of Health, Taipei, Taiwan.
Wei-Ju
WJ
Su
Yen-Hsuan
YH
Ni
Ding-Ping
DP
Liu
Li-Shiuan
LS
Chiou
Wen-Yueh
WY
Cheng
Jiunn-Shyan Julian
JS
Wu
Chun-Yi
CY
Lu
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D010322:Parvoviridae Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016732:Parvovirus B19, Human / Q000276:immunology*; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult
D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D007074:Immunoglobulin G