Prevalence Of Serum Epstein-barr Virus Antibodies And DNA In Children In Beijing

EBV is associated with a number of malignancies. Seroepidemiological data concerning children’s primary infection of EBV in China is rare, yet such information would help in virology research as well as prevention and treatment of EBV-related diseases.The study enrolled all children from0-9who visited Peking Union Medical College Hospital between January and March2013and whose serum has been collected for laboratory tests. Four antibodies, namely anti-VCA (viral capsid antigen) IgM and IgG antibodies, anti-EA(early antigen) IgG antibody and an ti-NA (nuclear antigen) IgG antibody, were investigated using ELISA, which was the first such study conducted in Beijing area. According to the results of four different antibodies, the children enrolled in the study are further grouped as primary infection, past infection or susceptible to EBV, and the percentage of each group is calculated. Serum DNA of these children is extracted to investigate EBV DNA positivity as well as copy number, using Real-time PCR technique.As the result shows,583(80.1%) of the754children in the study are infected with EBV,65(8.92) of whom are in the state of primary infection. The seropositivity of anti-VCA IgM antibodies and EBV DNA positivity revealed that all children of age group0(0-6m) are susceptible to EBV, and starting from the next age group, results of the four antibodies demonstrate a steady increase from42.3%(7-11m) to91.9%(9-year-olds) in seropositivity. The growth rate peaks between age group0(7-11m) and2, and the seropositivity of EBV exceeds90%at age8, which is approximately the positivity of adults. Compared with the results of similar investigations conducted in1970’s and2006in Beijing, the age of primary infection is delayed. Since primary infection of EBV tend to occur later in a more developed society, the result coincides with the social-economic development of China in recent decades. Real-time PCR test finds39(5.17%) of the754children are positive for EBV DNA in their serum. As serum EBV DNA is only detectable when the virus undergoes active replication, the determination of serum DNA copies would be more valuable in the diagnosis of patients who are suspected of EBV infection, or in the evaluation of disease severity of such patients. Screening of serum EBV DNA in healthy people or EBV carriers with no symptoms contributes little to determining the status of infection.