Frequency of herpesvirus infection in 129 elementary school children in Antioquia, Colombia

Abstract

With the aim of making a preliminary approach to the frequency of human herpesviral infections in our local population, a serological survey was carried out among children entering school for the first time, in three different locations, namely: the city, the village and the countryside. Except for Herpes simplex type 2 and Varicella-Zoster viruses which presented infection frequencies of O and 44.5%, respectively, the other herpetic infections were widely distributed: Herpes simplex virus type 1, 78%; Epstein-Barr Virus, 94%; Cytomegalovirus, 98%; and Human Herspesvirus 6,100%. No association was found between the frequencies of infection and the following variables: procedency, age, sex, number of persons In the family, order number of the child within the family; also, there was no association between the frequencies of infection with the different types of virus.