Age-specific incidence of neutralization antibodies of Herpes simplex virus

Sera of 1255 individuals from Novi Sad, varying in age from less than 1 month to 69 years, have been tested for neutralization antibodies to Herpes implex virus type 1. The eight newborns tested and 97% of the 507 adults were positive, with titres ranging from 1/4 to 1/256. The titres in newborns were significantly lower than the titres in adults. After birth the maternal antibodies declined rapidly and 94% of infants at the age of greater than 6 months and less than 2 years were negative. After the first year infants in Novi Sad start to acquire herpes-neutralizing antibodies actively, reaching a 50% incidence of positives between the 2nd and 3rd year of age. Age-specific incidence rates of herpes positives found in Novi Sad have been compared with those reported from Edinburgh, Freiburg i. Br. and Louisiana. Possible influences of several circumstances upon the incidence rate of positives detected by the neutralization test are discussed.