Soroepidemiology of Varicella in Brazil – results of a prospective cross-sectional study. 22-23 and 24-25 years old, whom the frequency of positive results decreased interestingly to 41.7 and 52.8%, respectively. Prevalence of positive VZV antibody between two genders was not statistically different. Summary On-going monitoring of the seroepidemilogy of VZV is necessary to assess styles of infection in the community. A considerable proportion of young medical students with this study were still susceptible to VZV and consequent complications. strong class=”kwd-title” Keywords: Seroepidemiology, Varicella Zoster Disease, Children, Adolescents, Medical college students INTRODUCTION Varicella is usually a slight and self-limiting disease in healthy preschool and school aged children (1). However severe complications like cerebellar ataxia, encephalitis, varicella pneumonia (2C4) and bacterial super infection LHW090-A7 of pores and skin and lung (5) especially in newborns, immunocompromised individuals, adults and pregnant women has been reported. Although nearly 5% of all instances of varicella are adults (6), up to 70% of mortality is definitely reported in adolescents and adults (7). The epidemiology of varicella differs and this might become related to variations in human population denseness and risk of exposure, environmental and social factors, humid conditions, or a combination of all these factors (1). Attack rate of varicella illness following a house hold contact is about 65-85% in none immune individuals (8). Immunity to VZV is definitely complex and not yet fully recognized. Antibodies which develop following a rash of varicella may play a role in immunity to varicella and persist for many years (1). With no active immunization policy, increasing number of vulnerable adolescents and adults, the era with higher risk for complications is inevitable. In this study, the seroprevalence of varicella antibodies in children, adolescents and young medical college students was evaluated inside a tertiary Children Medical Center in Tehran, Iran. MATERIAL AND METHODS With this mix sectional study, the target human population was children, adolescents and medical college students aged 18 to 25 years old whom referred into medical center during 2008. Individuals who received blood or blood products for six month before study were excluded. After getting a authorized informal consent about the aim of the study from college students and parents of children, the questioner form including data of sex and age of the participants were recorded as a result. A 3 mls of venous blood sample from individuals. Serum then separated and stored at -70 C for further screening. Commercial Enzyme Linked Immunoassay kit (Trinity Biotech, USA) used for detection of specific IgG antibodies against VZV. The assay was carried out in accordance with manufactures recommendations. Results were assumed LHW090-A7 positive if percentage value was more than 1.1 and assumed bad when value was less than 0.9. Equivocal samples retested. The level of sensitivity and specificity of kit were 99.4 %and 97%, respectively. Data were analyzed by SPSS software version 16. Fundamental descriptive analyses were utilized to summarize participants characteristics (sex and age) and VZV LHW090-A7 seropositivity. VZV seropositivity compared in both sex and 8 independent age groups (10-11, 12-13, 14-15, 16-17, 18-19, 20-21, 22-23, 24-25 years) by chi square test. P value of less than 0.05 was considered as significant. RESULTS A total of 412 individuals who were 10 to 25 years of age participated with this study. Distribution of participants in separate age groups were;10-11, n = 71; 12-13, n = 76; 14-15, n = 69; 16-17, n = 54; 18-19, n = 47; 20-12, n = 35; 22-23, n = 24; 24-25, n = 36. Mean age were 164.3 years and 219 (53.2%) were male. Overall 269 individuals (65.3%) were seropositive for VZV IgG. Seroprevalence of VZV antibody was increasing with age of participants, from 59% in 10-11years children to 80% in 20-21 years old young adult college students. In 22-23 and 24-25 years old rate of recurrence of positive results was decreased interestingly to 41.7 and 52.8%, respectively. Fig. 1 shows the Rabbit Polyclonal to VAV1 (phospho-Tyr174) rate of recurrence of positive VZV IgG in independent age groups. Prevalence of positive VZV antibody between two genders was not statistically different and in both organizations were nearly 65% (P= 0.852). Open in a separate windowpane Fig. 1 Varicella Zoster Disease seroprevalence by different age group groups DISCUSSION More than 95% of infected people.