Prevalence of human herpesvirus 6 antibody among isolated Amazonian Amerindian communities in Brazil

• Published in: Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene Vol. 88; no. 2; pp. 167 - 169
• Main Authors: de Freitas, Ronaldo Barros, Siqueira Linhares, Maria I., Linhares, Alexandre C.
• Format: Journal Article Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.03.1994; Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Antibodies, Viral - isolation & purification; Biological and medical sciences; Brazil - epidemiology; Child; Child, Preschool; Female; Fluorescent Antibody Technique; Herpesviridae Infections - ethnology; Herpesviridae Infections - immunology; Herpesvirus 6, Human - immunology; Human viral diseases; Humans; Indians, South American; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Infectious diseases; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Prevalence; Tropical medicine; Viral diseases; Viral diseases of the lymphoid tissue and the blood. Aids; South America; Brazil; America; Amerindian; Human; Seropositivity; Prevalence; Antibody; Herpesviridae; Epidemiology; Infection; Virus; Herpesvirus hominis 6; Immunological investigation; Viral disease; Child
• ISSN: 0035-9203; 1878-3503
• DOI: 10.1016/0035-9203(94)90280-1

Human herpesvirus 6 (HHV6) antibody was detected by the anticomplement immunofluorescence test in 65 of 592 serum samples (10.9%) obtained from Amerindians belonging to 4 remote communities inhabiting the Amazon Region of Brazil. Seropositivity rates ranged from 5.4% in the Oyampí to 14.9% in the Tucano. Among the Mekranoiti and Tiriyo, the seroprevalence rates were 12.5% and 11.8%, respectively. In children aged 0–10 years, the prevalences of HHV6 antibody ranged from 5.2% to 24.2%, among the Oyampí and Mekranoiti tribes, respectively. In the 11–20 and >20 years old age groups, percentages of positivity ranged, in the former group, from 9.5% to 17.5% in the Oyampí and Tucano, respectively and, in the latter group, from 1.3% in the Oyampí to 14.8% in the Tucano. The prevalences of HHV6 antibody decreased regularly through the first 3 age-groups in the Mekranoiti and Tiriyo. In addition, frequencies of seropositivity were consistently higher in males than in females in the Mekranoiti ( P < 0.05), Oyampí and Tiriyo tribes.