title: Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection in Chinese children: a retrospective study of age-specific prevalence.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) is a globally prevalent herpesvirus associated with infectious mononucleosis and many malignancies. The survey on EBV prevalence appears to be important to study EBV-related diseases and determine when to administer prophylactic vaccine. The purpose of this retrospective study was to collect baseline information about the prevalence of EBV infection in Chinese children.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We collected 1778 serum samples from healthy children aged 0 to 10, who were enrolled in conventional health and nutrition examinations without any EBV-related symptom in 2012 and 2013 in North China (n = 973) and South China (n = 805). We detected four EBV-specific antibodies, i.e., anti-VCA-IgG and IgM, anti-EBNA-IgG and anti-EA-IgG, by ELISA, representing all of the phases of EBV infection. The overall EBV seroprevalence in samples from North and South China were 80.78% and 79.38% respectively. The EBV seropositivity rates dropped slightly at age 2, and then increased gradually with age. The seroprevalence became stabilized at over 90% after age 8. In this study, the seroprevalence trends between North and South China showed no difference (P>0.05), and the trends of average antibody concentrations were similar as well (P>0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  EBV seroprevalence became more than 50% before age 3 in Chinese children, and exceed 90% after age 8. This study can be helpful to study the relationship between EBV and EBV-associated diseases, and supportive to EBV vaccine development and implementation.
authors.affiliation: Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Guangzhou, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Geng
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Xiong
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Cancer Institute and Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences/Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Guangzhou, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Mu-yun
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Division of Infectious Diseases, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America; Department of Microbiology and Immunobiology, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.
authors.forename: Hufeng
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Guangzhou, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Li-zhen
authors.initials: LZ
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Guangzhou, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Qi-sheng
authors.initials: QS
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: Neonatal Intense Care Unit, Guangdong Women and Children's Hospital, Guangzhou, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Hui-jia
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Guangzhou, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yi-xin
authors.initials: YX
authors.lastname: Zeng
mesh_terms: D000918:Antibody Specificity / Q000276:immunology; D044466:Asian People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003710:Demography; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D020031:Epstein-Barr Virus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology*; D005260:Female; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies