Seroepidemiological study of markers for Epstein–Barr virus infection in reproductive age women
Bulgarian Medical Journal, 2024, 18(3), 28-31.
T. Petkova1, S. Pachkova2, Tz. Doychinova1, S. Georgieva3
1 Department „Infectious diseases, Epidemiology, Parasitology and Tropical medicine“, Faculty „Public Health“, Medical University – Pleven
2 Medical Center „Clinical Institute for Reproductive Medicine“ – Pleven
3 Department „Social medicine and Health management“, Faculty „Public Health“, Medical University – Pleven
Abstract. At the present stage, studies on the involvement of Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) in neonatal pathology are rare. Establishing seroprevalence among women of reproductive age has important epidemiological significance in order to determine the risk of infection during pregnancy and intrauterine infection of the fetus. The aim of the study is to determine the seroepidemiological status of EBV in reproductive age women. For this purpose, a prospective seroepidemiological study was conducted, in which 96 healthy women aged 18-49 years were tested during the period December 2023 – January 2024. The presence of specific antibodies was determined with Anti-EBV VCA IgM, Anti-EBV VCA IgG and Anti-EBV EBNA- 1 IgG kits (ORGENTEC Diagnostika GmbH, Germany) based on the ELISA method. The average age of the women was 34.41±5.44 years. Dominating were women with higher education (76.04%) living in urban areas (91.67%). The results of the seroepidemiological study of markers for EBV show that 98.96% of women of reproductive age are seropositive. We did not find a statistically significant correlation between the presence of antibodies to EBV and socio-demographic indicators. Although the interpretation of serological status results indicates a low risk of primary infection, active monitoring of high-risk groups pregnant women is recommended due to the possibility of reactivation of latent EBV infection.
Key words: seroepidemiological study, Epstein–Barr virus, reproductive age
Address for correspondence: Assoc. Prof. Tanya Petkova, MD, PhD, е-mail: tanja_1973@abv.bg