Risk factors for acquiring varicella zoster virus (VZV) infection, and sero-prevalence of anti-VZV immunoglobulin G antibodies in adolescents from a tropical population

Introduction: Little is known about the sero-prevalence of anti-VZV antibodies among adolescents in the Kandy district of Sri Lanka although adulthood VZV infections are very common in this part of the country.Design: Socio-demographic data and blood samples were collected between November 2004 and April 2005 from a total of 271, 12- to 19-year-old, school students from urban, rural and estate communities. Sera were tested for anti-VZV IgG antibodies using a stranded enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.Results: Sero-prevalence of anti-VZV antibodies among the adolescents was found to be 34%. Number of siblings (adolescents without siblings were non-immune; of those with 2 siblings - 27% were immune; of those with more than 2 siblings - 39% were immune) and areas of residence (urban, estate and rural) were significantly associated with the presence of anti-VZV IgG antibodies (p&lt;0.001).Conclusions: Sero-prevalence of anti-VZV IgG antibodies was low among adolescents in the Kandy district. Adolescents who lived in the urban areas had a significantly higher rate of anti-VZV IgG antibodies than those who lived in rural areas (p&lt;0.001). Adolescents who grow up without siblings are at risk of evading the childhood VZV infection and form a potential target group for adulthood chicken pox.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4038/sljid.v4i1.5852 </p