SEROEPIDEMIOLOGY OF HUMAN PARVOVIRUS B19 IN TAIWAN

In order to determine the prevalence and risk factors of
human parvovirus B19 (B19) infection in Taiwan, a
seroepidemiological study was carried out in 19 townships.
Serum samples were collected from 862 healthy residents, who
were selected by stratified random sampling from various
study areas. They were chosen from four different ethnic
groups including aborigines, Fukien Taiwanese, Hakka
Taiwanese, and mainland Chinese. Serum samples were screened
for B19 IgG antibody by indirect antibody capture enzyme-
linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and B19 IgM by IgM
antibody capture (MAC)-ELISA, respectively. The overall
prevalence of anti-B19 IgG and anti-B19 IgM was 32.8% and 0.
35%, respectively. The anti-B19 seropositive rate in
females was significantly higher than that of males (36.4%
vs. 29.4%, P < .001). The age-sex-adjusted seropositive rate
in urban townships (39.9%) was higher than that in
aboriginal townships (30.5%, P < .001). The seropositive
rate increased significantly with age showing a dose-
response relationship(P = 0.0001 based on a trend test).
Blood transfusion was found to be associated with an
increased seropositive rate showing a multivariate-adjusted
odds ratios of 1.6. (C) 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.