Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Rwanda, Huye, Rwanda.
Rwanda Military Hospital, Kigali, Rwanda.
J Med Virol. 2018 Aug;90(8):1290-1296. doi: 10.1002/jmv.25198. Epub 2018 Jun 6.
Seroprevalence studies provide information on the susceptibility to infection of certain populations, including women of childbearing age. Such data from Central Africa are scarce regarding two viruses that cause congenital infections: Zika virus (ZIKV), an emerging mosquito-borne infection, and Rubella virus (RuV), a vaccine-preventable infection. We report on the seroprevalence of both ZIKV and RuV from Rwanda, a country without any known cases of ZIKV, but bordering Uganda where this virus was isolated in 1947. Anti-ZIKV-specific and anti-RuV-specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies were analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in serum samples from 874 Rwandan and 215 Swedish blood donors. Samples positive for IgG antibodies against ZIKV were examined for viral RNA using real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). The seroprevalence of ZIKV IgG in Rwanda was 1.4% (12/874), of which the predominance of positive findings came from the Southeastern region. All anti-ZIKV IgG-positive samples were PCR-negative. Among 297 female blood donors of childbearing age, 295 (99.3%) were seronegative and thus susceptible to ZIKV. All Swedish blood donors were IgG-negative to ZIKV. In contrast, blood donors from both countries showed high seroprevalence of IgG to RuV: 91.2% for Rwandan and 92.1% for Swedish donors. Only 10.5% (31/294) of female donors of childbearing age from Rwanda were seronegative for RuV. In Rwanda, seroprevalence for ZIKV IgG antibodies was low, but high for RuV. Hence, women of childbearing age were susceptible to ZIKV. These data may be of value for decision-making regarding prophylactic measures.
血清流行率研究提供了有关某些人群感染易感性的信息，包括育龄妇女。关于两种导致先天性感染的病毒，中非的数据很少：寨卡病毒（ZIKV），一种新出现的蚊媒感染，以及风疹病毒（RuV），一种可通过疫苗预防的感染。我们报告了卢旺达的 ZIKV 和 RuV 的血清流行率，卢旺达没有已知的 ZIKV 病例，但与乌干达接壤，该病毒于 1947 年在乌干达被分离。通过酶联免疫吸附试验（ELISA）分析了 874 名卢旺达和 215 名瑞典献血者血清样本中的抗 ZIKV 特异性和抗 RuV 特异性免疫球蛋白 G（IgG）抗体。使用实时逆转录聚合酶链反应（RT-qPCR）检测针对 ZIKV IgG 抗体呈阳性的样本中的病毒 RNA。卢旺达 ZIKV IgG 的血清流行率为 1.4%（12/874），其中阳性结果主要来自东南部地区。所有抗 ZIKV IgG 阳性样本的 PCR 均为阴性。在 297 名育龄女性献血者中，295 名（99.3%）为血清阴性，因此易感染 ZIKV。所有瑞典献血者的 ZIKV IgG 均为阴性。相比之下，来自两国的献血者均对 RuV 表现出高 IgG 血清流行率：卢旺达为 91.2%，瑞典为 92.1%。只有 10.5%（31/294）的卢旺达育龄女性献血者对 RuV 呈血清阴性。在卢旺达，ZIKV IgG 抗体的血清流行率较低，但 RuV 较高。因此，育龄妇女易感染 ZIKV。这些数据可能对预防性措施的决策具有重要价值。
