Seropositivity of Chikungunya and West Nile Viruses in Iranian Children in 2018

Abstract

Background: Several surveys have been conducted on the seroprevalence of viral infections caused by Chikungunya and West Nile viruses in humans. However, there is a paucity of studies on the seroprevalence and spread of these viruses in children. Objectives: We aimed to investigate the seropositivity of IgG antibodies against Chikungunya and West Nile viruses in a group of Iranian children aged one month to 14 years. Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed on blood samples collected from children aged one month to 14 years in Tehran who attended the outpatient clinics of a children’s hospital from March to December 2018. The serum IgG levels against Chikungunya and West Nile viruses were assessed using the ELISA technique. Results: Of 180 serum samples assessed for positivity, four (three from boys and one from girls) had positive IgG for Chikungunya and 11 (seven from boys and four from girls) had positive IgG for West Nile, causing overall seropositivity of 2.2% and 6.1% for Chikungunya and West Nile infections, respectively. Moreover, Chikungunya and West Nile viruses showed no significant association between seropositivity and sex. High seropositivity was observed predominantly in the age groups of below two years and over 10 years in Chikungunya and West Nile infections, respectively. However, the difference was not significant (P-value > 0.05). In the age group of one month to two years, all cases with positive IgG were less than six-month-old. Conclusions: The results of the seroprevalence of Chikungunya and West Nile viruses among children in Tehran showed the prevalence of these viral infections in this region. Therefore, these infections should be considered in the differential diagnosis for children with clinical symptoms of viral diseases.

Medically Significant Vector-Borne Viral Diseases in Iran

“…A similar study by Tavakoli et al, 2020, examined serum from patients from 7 different provinces (Khuzestan, Fars, Kerman, Ilam, Hormozgan, Bushehr, Sistan and Baluchestan) with 16.07% of the samples testing positive for CHIKV [15]. Another study in 2018 examining blood samples collected from children at a children's hospital in Tehran identified 2.2% positivity rate for CHIKV [47]. Similarly, serum samples collected in six provinces (Bushehr, Hormozgan, Sistan and Baluchestan, Khuzestan, Gilan and Mazandaran) from 2017 to 2018 revealed that 1.8% of the samples tested positive for CHIKV [48].…”

“…More studies examining ZIKV vectors need to be undertaken to elucidate the potential of disease spread in Iran, especially considering the presence of a main vector for the disease. [15,[46][47][48], Dengue virus [15,48,58,60,62], Sindbis virus [75] and Rift valley fever virus [109] in Iran in either humans, animals, or mosquitoes by indirect and direct evidence.…”

“…Figure 2. Evidence of West Nile virus[48,96,99,107,[119][120][121][122], Chikungunya virus[15,[46][47][48], Dengue virus[15,48,58,60,62], Sindbis virus[75] and Rift valley fever virus[109] in Iran in either humans, animals, or mosquitoes by indirect and direct evidence.…”