Serum level of varicella-zoster virus antibody among healthy residents in Henan province

ObjectiveTo investigate serum level of varicella-zoster virus(VZV)antibody among healthy residents in Henan province and to provide theoretical basis for making VZV infection control strategies.MethodsWith stratified random sampling,654 healthy residents aged 1-70 years were recruited from urban and rural areas of 3 municipalities in Henan province and their blood samples were collected to detect serum VZV antibody using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA).ResultsThe overall positive rate of serum VZV-specific immunoglobulin G(IgG)was 70.64% and the average titer of serum VZV-IgG was 1 834.05±246.71 mU/mL.Both the positive rate and the average titer of VZV-IgG increased first and then decreased with the increment of age,with the positive rates of 23.44%,35.89%,70.73%,35.89%,95.40%,97.78%,80.68%,and 56.47% and the average titers of 90.11±24.37,168.64±50.19,700.18±193.55,1 275.77±352.78,2 412.48±591.76,2 795.21±644.25,3 116.35±610.57,and 2 537.84±551.40 mU/mL for the participants aged 1-3,4 -6,7 -13,14-20,21-35,36-45,46-60,and 61 -70 years,respectively.No significant gender-difference in the positive rate and average titer was observed among the participants of various age groups; but there were statistically significant differences in the positive rate and the average titer among the participants from different municipalities.ConclusionThe positive rate of serum VZV antibody is relatively high among healthy residents in Henan province,especially among those aged less than 7 years and older than 60 years.