title: A retrospective serologic survey of hantavirus infections in the county of Cássia dos Coqueiros, State of São Paulo, Brazil.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In recent years, hantavirus infections producing severe diseases have obtained an increased attention from public health authorities from the countries of Eurasia to the Americas. Brazil has reported 1,300 cases of hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS) from 1993 to 2010, with about 80 of them occurring in the northeast of the State of São Paulo, with 48% fatality rate. Araraquara virus was the causative agent of HCPS in the region. Considering that hantaviruses causing human disease in the Americas were unknown until 1993, we have looked for hantavirus infections in the population of Cássia dos Coqueiros county, northeast of the State of São Paulo, Brazil, before this time. This county has about 2,800 inhabitants and an economy based on agriculture, including cultivation of Brachiaria decumbens grass. The grass seeds are an important rodent attraction, facilitating transmission of hantavirus to man. Four HCPS cases were reported so far in the county.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this study, 1,876 sera collected from 1987 to 1990 were tested for IgG to hantavirus by IgG-ELISA, using the N recombinant protein of Araraquara virus as antigen.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Positive results were observed in 89 (4.7%) samples, which were all collected in 1987. The positivity among urban inhabitants was 5.3%, compared with 4.3% among those living in rural areas.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results showed that hantavirus infections occurred in Cássia dos Coqueiros, completely unrecognized, even before hantaviruses were described in the Americas.
authors: Departamento de Saúde Pública, Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brasil. sorayajb@fmrp.usp.br
authors: Soraya Jabur
authors: SJ
authors: Badra
authors: Felipe Gonçalves Mota
authors: FG
authors: Maia
authors: Glauciane Garcia
authors: GG
authors: Figueiredo
authors: Gilberto Sabino
authors: GS
authors: Dos Santos Junior
authors: Gelse Mazzoni
authors: GM
authors: Campos
authors: Luiz Tadeu Moraes
authors: LT
authors: Figueiredo
authors: Afonso Dinis Costa
authors: AD
authors: Passos
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006476:Orthohantavirus / Q000276:immunology*; D018778:Hantavirus Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood*; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011159:Population Surveillance; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012424:Rural Population; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D014505:Urban Population
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D007074:Immunoglobulin G