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Seroepidemiology of Hantavirus in the Philippines
I D Quelapio1, L Villa, S M Clarin
1Tropical Disease Foundation, Makati Medical Center, Makati City, Philippines.
Objective:
This study was undertaken to determine the seroepidemiology of Hantavirus infection in the Philippines.
Methods:
This is a cross-sectional study done in asymptomatic volunteers from various communities in the Philippines selected by a stratified multistage sampling design. Antibody to Hantavirus was detected by particle agglutination (PA) test using Hantadia high-density particle agglutination (HDPA) reagent kit.
Results:
The prevalence of positive Hantavirus antibody among 461 subjects was the same in both males (6.1%) and females (6.1%) in rural (7.6%), urban (5.6%), and urban poor (5.1%) populations.
Conclusions:
The prevalence of Hantavirus infection in the Filipino population is comparable to that seen in other developing countries. The HDPA can be conveniently used as a rapid tool to detect the Hantavirus antibody for seroepidemiologic and diagnostic purposes.