Seroepidemiology of Epstein-Barr Virus Infections in a Developing Country

The seroepidemiology of infection due to Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) was investigated in 334 Saudi children of age less than 6 months to 14 years, 131 young adults (16–25 years), and in a further 333 older Saudi adults using an indirect immunofluorescence technique to detect antibodies to viral capsid antigen (VCA), nuclear antigen (EBNA), and early antigen (EA). Age-specific prevalence of IgG antibodies to VCA showed a pattern of gradual increase to 68.2 and 70.8 per cent in the 8–14-year-old females and males, respectively; peak levels of 85.2 and 88.6 per cent were found in young adult females and males, respectively. EBV-EA antibodies showed a peak prevalence of 10.4 per cent in the children 8–14-year-old and half that prevalence rate in the adults. EBV-EBNA antibody prevalence was low until the age of 4 years, but rose to 70 per cent in the 8–;14-year-old children. No significant differences in the geometric mean titres (GMT) to VCA-IgG were noticeable overall in the children and adults; the GMT's were low. The GMT of EBV-EA was fairly low and so also was the GMT of EBNA antibodies. The serological data does not resemble those from populations with high incidence of nasopharyngeal carcinoma or Burkitt's lymphoma.