Premium
Changing seroepidemiological patterns of cytomegalovirus infection in children in Taiwan from 1984 to 1989
Author(s) -
Lee PingIng,
Chang MeiHwei,
Lee ChinYun,
Kao ChuanLian
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
journal of medical virology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 121
eISSN - 1096-9071
pISSN - 0146-6615
DOI - 10.1002/jmv.1890360203
Subject(s) - cytomegalovirus , medicine , attack rate , antibody , pediatrics , age groups , prevalence , epidemiology , viral disease , virology , demography , herpesviridae , immunology , virus , sociology
The prevalence of cytomegalovirus (CMV) antibody was studied in 966 children in 1984 and 927 children in 1989. The overall prevalence rate of CMV antibody was 59% for children in 1984 and 46% for children in 1989 ( P < 0.05). In both study years, the prevalence rate of CMV antibody was about 70% in infants under 6 months of age, declined to a trough between the ages of 6 and 12 months, and then increased to 40‐50% between 1 and 4 years of age. The rate of CMV antibody for children above 4 years in 1984 increased steadily with age and reached 82% by 12 years. In contrast, the prevalence rate in 1989 remained at the level of 40‐5070 from age 4 to 10 years. It was followed by a sharp increase after 10 years of age and reached 84% at 12 years old. The seropositive rate in each of the 5‐, 6‐, 8‐, 9‐, and 10‐year‐old groups was higher in 1984 than that in 1989. These observations indicated that the prevalence rate of CMV antibody is decreasing in children. This change may be related to various socioeconomic factors, especially the less crowded family conditions in recent years.