Seroepidemiological study on hantavirus infections in India

Abstract

Hantaviruses are etiological agents of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome in many parts of Asia and Europe. There has been no documented case of hantavirus disease from India, although serological evidence exists. We investigated the prevalence of hantavirus in the Indian population and tried to identify potential risk groups for hantavirus infections. The presence of hantavirus-specific IgG antibodies was prospectively evaluated in 661 subjects belonging to different groups, i.e. patients with chronic renal disease, warehouse workers and tribal members engaged in rodent trapping. Healthy volunteer blood donors were included as a control group. Thirty-eight seropositive samples were found using a combination of a commercial ELISA followed by an indirect immunofluorescence assay. Western blot using recombinant Hantaan virus nucleocapsid antigen confirmed the presence of anti-hantavirus IgG in 28 (74%) of the 38 sera tested. This study confirms the presence of hantaviruses in India and warrants increasing awareness of the problems of emerging pathogens and the threats they may pose to the public health system.

Seroprevalence of hantavirus infections in Switzerland in 2009: difficulties in determining prevalence in a country with low endemicity

“…Although blood donors may not represent an ideal control group for diseases related to environmentally, behaviourally or socially patterned exposures [39], due to the ease of accessibility of blood samples and personal information, blood donors are popular study populations for serological analysis. Serological data from blood donors may be used as basis value for comparative studies with population groups representing potential risk groups [20,41].…”

Hantavirus infection: a global zoonotic challenge

“…However, many patients with fever of unknown origin and individuals in contact with rodents show positive test results for the HTNV antibody (Chandy et al, 2008). If clinical diagnostic methods are improved, a greater number of HFRS cases might be discovered in India.…”

Hantavirus Species in India: A Retrospective Study

“…Criteria for anti hantavirus IgG reactivity were as per our previous publication. [6] All serotyped samples (n=12) were initially tested by two assays; a commercial anti hantavirus IgG ELISA (Focus Technologies Cypress, California, USA) and indirect immunoß uorescence assay (IFA) using HTNV-infected Vero E6 cells. All nine seropositives were conÞ rmed by Western blot (WB) analysis using a recombinant protein of HTNV (Fojnica strain).…”

“…1). [6] Sample number 7 was from a patient with suspected hantavirus-like disease. Samples were chosen for serotyping based on their availability and level of reactivity in the ELISA and IFA as shown in Table 1.…”

“…Cumulative data on reactivity of these samples have been presented in our seroprevalence report. [6] …”