Serum polio antibodies in unimmunized preschool children in a rural village in Ghana: before active immunization...

The finding of the neutralizing antibodies against poliovirus in unimmunized preschool children confirms the endemicity of the disease in the rural community. The predominant polio antibody types were types 1 and 2. In children under 4 months of age, 82% were seropositive to type 1, 91% to polio type 2 and 55% to polio type 3; evidence of maternal transplacental antibodies. There were fewer seropositives in the age group 4-9 months, 28%, 44% and 12% to the types 1, 2 and 3, respectively. However, the percentages of seropositives to all three types increased for the rest of the age groups, indicating possible contact with the wild poliovirus in early infancy. Community spread of the virus is also supported by the intrafamilial clustering of the seropositives.