title: Antibody responses and viral load in patients with Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever: a comprehensive analysis during the early stages of the infection.
abstract: This study was performed to assess viral load, viral nucleocapsid (N), and glycoprotein precursor (GPC) antibodies in consecutive samples obtained from Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever patients to reveal viral replication kinetics and antiviral immune responses during the early stages of the infection. Among 116 samples from 20 individuals, 43.9% and 76.7% were positive for viral RNA and IgM/IgG antibodies, respectively, whereas both markers could be detected in 22.4%. Mean duration of viremia was 3 days (range: 1-6 days). N-IgM antibodies were identified as the initial serological marker during the infection, becoming detectable in a median of 2-3 days after disease onset, followed by GPC-IgM (4-6 days) and IgG antibodies (5-6 days). Clearance of viremia followed or coincided N-IgM response. Partial S gene sequences amplified in viremic patients were identical or closely related to previously characterized strains and grouped within European lineage I group II viruses via neighbor-joining analysis without significant amino acid substitutions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology, Virology Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey. Electronic address: ekoray@hacettepe.edu.tr.
authors.forename: Koray
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ergunay
authors.affiliation: Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology Department, Yıldırım Beyazıt University, Ankara Ataturk Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Zeliha
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Kocak Tufan
authors.affiliation: Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology Department, MOH Ankara Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Cemal
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bulut
authors.affiliation: Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology Department, MOH Ankara Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Sami
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kinikli
authors.affiliation: Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology Department, MOH Ankara Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ali Pekcan
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Demiroz
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, Ankara University; Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Aykut
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ozkul
mesh_terms: D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D003225:Hemorrhagic Fever Virus, Crimean-Congo / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006479:Hemorrhagic Fever, Crimean / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019562:Viral Load
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral
keywords: Antibody; CCHF; Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever; Immune response; Viral load