Persistent infections have now become an increasingly urgent problem. One of the priorities in this area is to study diseases caused by Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) belonging to the family of herpes viruses type IV. The purpose of this investigation was to study the mechanisms of development of an immune response to EBV infections in relation to the patient's age. Serum samples from in 411 children aged 5 days to 17 years, 503 donors, and 49 parturients were tested for the following markers of EBV infection: anti-VCA-IgM, anti-VCA-IgG, anti-EA-IgG, anti-NA-IgG. The sera containing anti-VCA-IgG were further examined for the avidity of specific antibodies. The present investigation has shown that the EBV infection rates at 3 years of life do not differ significantly from those in adult donors and it was more than 95%. At the same time, about 40% of the children become infected during the first year of life. There is a tendency for higher rates of primary infection in pubertal children. IgG-EA as a marker of active EBV infection is most characteristic of infants aged 1 to 2 years and children aged 14 to 17 years. Anti-VCA-IgM is not a valid marker of primary infection. Comprehensive determination of a serological profile is required for the valid diagnosis of the stage of EBV infection.
Astrakhantseva et al. (Mon,) studied this question.