Prevalence of antibodies to human cytomegalovirus in Urban, Kibbutz, and bedouin children in southern Israel

Abstract

Prevalence of antibody to human cytomegalovirus (CMV) was determined in a sample of 860 healthy children aged 1-13 years in Beer Sheva, in the Negev region of Israel. Three groups of children were tested: (1) urban Jewish children of low, middle, and high socioeconomic levels; (2) 8 rural communes (kibbutz) in which children live in close contact with each other from the 6th week of life under good hygienic conditions and a high standard of living; (3) Bedouin, seminomadic Arabs living in relatively poor hygienic conditions in the desert. Kibbutz children showed a significantly higher rate of CMV seropositivity by the second year of life than urban Jewish and Bedouin children (76% versus 44% and 54% respectively) with a gradual increase to 94% in the 10-13-year age group. Among children living in urban populations a significantly higher prevalence of CMV seropositivity was associated with crowding, but not with other socioeconomic indicators (place of residence, country of origin, or education level of parents). A marked rise of CMV seropositivity with age was found in urban Jewish children in the 2-5-year age group during which time they attend nurseries (44% to 67%) and in the Bedouin children in the 6-9-year age group (59% to 86%) when they first attend school. The data suggest that close contact is of major importance in CMV infection in childhood. The clinical implications of early acquisition and high prevalence of CMV antibodies in the kibbutz setting are discussed.

Seroprevalence and Risk Factors for Cytomegalovirus Infections in Adolescent Females

“…However, it is problematic to know how to ask about the frequency and/or intensity of kissing to explore this possible risk factor. In addition, the existing literature has documented that living in crowded situations (in a communal Kibbutz living situation) and group living has been associated with CMV infection [5,[35][36][37][38]; however, after studying specific group living situations individually and collectively as a variable, we found that it was not associated with CMV infection. While some studies have evaluated the number of individuals living in a home as a measure of "crowding" or "group living," we were concerned that adolescents answering a CASI may not know of the number of individuals living in the home earlier in life (from birth to the time of the questionnaire).…”

Working parents: the impact of day care and breast-feeding on cytomegalovirus infections in offspring.

“…The report from the Center for Health Statistics demonstrates that receipt of child care is strongly associated with socioeconomic status. Women of low socioeco- (16,17). As illustrated in Table 3, high rates of CMV infection among children attending day care centers were later cormed in Sweden and have been reported in several studies in the United States (7,(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26) those in day care than in those who stayed at home (20,21).…”

Seroprevalence of Cytomegalovirus (CMV) and Risk Factors for Infection in Adolescent Males

“…Previous studies have also noted that living in either group living or crowded situations have been positively associated with CMV infection [1] [33–36]. In our study, we examined group living exposure without a precise assessment of how much close contact that involved.…”