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[Hantavirus infection in Spain: seroepidemiologic study in the province of Soria]
M I Gegúndez1, J V Saz, M J Alves
1Departamento de Microbiología y Parasitología, Universidad de Alcalá de Henares, Portugal.
Background:
The aim of the present was to study the seroprevalence of Hantavirus infection in the province of Soria, Spain.
Methods:
Total specific antibodies against Hantavirus (Hantaan and Puumala virus) were studied by indirect immunofluorescence in 537 sera (251 males and 286 females) of a population from the province of Soria, distributed proportionally to the number of inhabitants from the health care areas. The age range of the population was from 1 to 95 years, the group mode ranging between 25 to 30 years and with a mean age of 36.4 years. The sera with antibody titers equal to or higher than 1/32 were considered as positive.
Results:
Significant titers of antibodies against Hantaan or Puumala virus were detected in 2.2% of the total of sera studied (12 positive sera); 1.75% in women (5/286) and 2.8% in men (7/251). Of these 12 positive sera, 8 reacted against both virus (1.5%-8/537), 3 exclusively to Puumala and 1 only to Hantaan. Seroprevalence against Puumala was 2% (11/537) and 1.7% against Hantaan (9/537). The age of the subjects with positive sera ranged from 3 to 73 years with a mean of 33.8 years with higher prevalence in the group from 30 to 40 years of age (4.1%).
Conclusions:
The results of this study confirm the existence of infection by Hantavirus in Spain.