Open AccessSeroprevalence of neutralizing antibodies against human adenovirus type 55 in the South Korean military, 2018-2019
Author(s) -
So Yun Park,
JaeHoon Ko,
Sezim Monoldorova,
Jonguk Jeong,
Bo-Young Jeon,
Soon-Hwan Kwon
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0236040
Subject(s) - seroprevalence , military personnel , titer , medicine , outbreak , neutralization , neutralizing antibody , plaque reduction neutralization test , active duty , military service , antibody , virology , immunology , serology , geography , archaeology
We conducted a seroprevalence study of a large ongoing outbreak of human adenovirus type 55 (HAdV-55) among the military in South Korea. Serum samples were collected between 2018 and 2019 from military-exposed (military group) and non-exposed (non-military group) populations. The plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT) was used to assess neutralization activity against HAdV-55. A total of 100 sera was collected from the non-military group, of which 18.8% showed HAdV-55 neutralizing antibody activity. Ninety-six sera were tested from the military group, which had significantly higher prevalence of neutralizing antibodies (56.0%, P <0.001). A significantly higher proportion of the military group had PRNT titers ≥1:1,000 than the non-military group (85.7% vs. 50.0%, P = 0.004). Among the military group, 48.9% of active-duty soldiers had PRNT titers ≥1:5,000, while none of the discharged civilians did ( P = 0.007). In conclusion, Koreans were exposed to HAdV-55 in their communities, but the exposure risk was higher among people in military service.