Seroepidemiology of Human Bocavirus Defined Using Recombinant Virus-Like Particles

• Published in: The Journal of Infectious Diseases Vol. 198; no. 1; pp. 41 - 50
• Main Authors: Kahn, Jeffrey S., Kesebir, Deniz, Cotmore, Susan F., D'Abramo, Anthony, Cosby, Christi, Weibel, Carla, Tattersall, Peter
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chicago, IL The University Chicago Press 01.07.2008; University of Chicago Press
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Amino Acid Sequence; Animals; Antibodies; Antibodies, Viral - blood; Antigens, Viral - immunology; Antiserum; Baculoviridae; Baculovirus; Biological and medical sciences; Bocavirus - genetics; Bocavirus - immunology; Bocavirus - isolation & purification; Capsid Proteins - chemistry; Capsid Proteins - genetics; Capsid Proteins - metabolism; Cell Line; Child; Child, Preschool; Children; Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay; Epidemiology; Erythrovirus; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Human bocavirus; Humans; Immunoprecipitation; Infant; Infections; Infectious diseases; Medical sciences; Microbiology; Molecular Sequence Data; Parvoviridae Infections - diagnosis; Parvoviridae Infections - epidemiology; Parvoviridae Infections - immunology; Parvovirus; Parvovirus B19, Human - immunology; Parvovirus B19, Human - isolation & purification; Rabbits; Recombinant Proteins; Seroepidemiologic Studies; Specimens; Virion - genetics; Virion - immunology; Virion - isolation & purification; Viruses; Infection; Microbiology; Recombinant virus; Virus like particle; Serology; Human bocavirus; Epidemiology
• ISSN: 0022-1899; 1537-6591; 1537-6613
• DOI: 10.1086/588674

Background. Human bocavirus (HBoV) is a newly identified human parvovirus for which seroepidemiology and antigenic properties remain undefined. Methods. The HBoV VP2 gene, expressed from a baculovirus vector, produced virus-like particles (VLPs), which were used to raise rabbit anti-HBoV antisera and to develop an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The VLP-based ELISA was used to screen for HBoV-specific immunoglobulinGantibodies in a convenience sample of 270 serum specimens, mostly from children, obtained at Yale–New Haven Hospital; 208 specimens were also screened for erythrovirus B19–specific antibodies by a B19 VLP–based ELISA. Results. Immunofluorescence and ELISA showed that human parvoviruses HBoV and B19 are antigenically distinct. By the HBoV VLP–based ELISA, 91.8% and 63.6% of serum specimens from infants in the first and second months of life, respectively, were found to be seropositive, as were 45.4% from 3-month-old infants and 25.0% from 4-month-old infants. The percentages of HBoV-seropositive children increased to 40.7%–60.0% for children 5l–47 months of age and to >85% for individuals ⩾48 months old. However, the overall percentage of B19-seropositive individuals was <40.5% for all age groups screened. Conclusions. HBoV infection is common during childhood, but a minority of children and young adults screened have evidence of B19 infection.