Prevalence of Reovirus-Specific Antibodies in Young Children in Nashville, Tennessee

Tai, Jennifer H.; Williams, John V.; Edwards, Kathryn M.; Wright, Peter F.; Crowe, James E.; Dermody, Terence S.

Although reovirus infections are thought to be common in adults, there have been few assessments of the seroprevalence of reovirus in young children. We developed an indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to measure levels of total antireovirus immunoglobulin A, G, and M in serum specimens collected from otherwise healthy infants and children (1 month to 5 years of age) in Nashville, Tennessee. Of the 272 serum specimens evaluated, 64 (23.5%) tested positive for reovirus-specific antibodies. We observed an age-dependent increase in reovirus-specific antibodies in children 1 year of age and older, peaking at 50.0% in children 5–6 years of age. These findings suggest that reovirus infections are common during early childhood