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Seroprevalence of antibody to varicella zoster virus in England and Wales in children and young adults

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 November 2004

A. J. VYSE ,
N. J. GAY ,
L. M. HESKETH ,
P. MORGAN-CAPNER  and
E. MILLER
A. J. VYSE
Affiliation:
Health Protection Agency Sero-Epidemiology Unit, Immunisation Division, Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre, London, UK
N. J. GAY
Affiliation:
Health Protection Agency Modelling and Economics Unit, Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre, London, UK
L. M. HESKETH
Affiliation:
Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Preston Microbiology Services, Royal Preston Hospital, Fulwood, Preston, Lancashire, UK (previously Preston Public Health Laboratory)
P. MORGAN-CAPNER
Affiliation:
Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Preston Microbiology Services, Royal Preston Hospital, Fulwood, Preston, Lancashire, UK (previously Preston Public Health Laboratory)
E. MILLER
Affiliation:
Health Protection Agency Sero-Epidemiology Unit, Immunisation Division, Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre, London, UK
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Abstract

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This is the first large-scale study to investigate the seroprevalence of varicella zoster (VZV) in the general population of England and Wales. The study focused on those aged 1–20 years, that age group in whom most infections occur. Prevalence rose rapidly with age, with 53% of children showing evidence of prior infection by the age of 5 years and most young adults having experienced infection. In addition to using a fixed cut-off recommended by the manufacturer, a mixture modelling technique was also used to define the proportion of the population seropositive in each age group. This was shown to be a more accurate approach to categorizing data from an epidemiological perspective.

Type
Research Article
Information
Epidemiology & Infection , Volume 132 , Issue 6 , December 2004 , pp. 1129 - 1134
Copyright
© 2004 Cambridge University Press