Serological evidence for long-term epstein–barr virus reactivation in children living in a holoendemic malaria region of Kenya

✍ Scribed by Erwan Piriou; Rhonda Kimmel; Kiprotich Chelimo; Jaap M. Middeldorp; Peter Sumba Odada; Robert Ploutz-Snyder; Ann M. Moormann; Rosemary Rochford

• Book ID: 102380914
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2009
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 109 KB
• Volume: 81
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0146-6615
• DOI: 10.1002/jmv.21485

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

To study the long term the effects of chronic exposure to P. falciparum malaria on Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) reactivation in children, EBV‐specific antibody levels were measured in a cross‐sectional survey of two groups of Kenyan children with divergent malaria exposure, varying in age from 1 to 14 years. A total of 169 children were analyzed within three age groups (1–4 years, 5–9 years and 10–14 years). Using a Luminex assay, elevated levels of IgG to EBV lytic and latent antigens were observed in children from the holoendemic malaria area; these remained elevated for each age group studied. In comparison, children from the sporadic malaria area had lower levels of EBV‐specific IgG antibodies and these levels declined across age groups. These data suggest that chronic exposure to malaria may lead to long‐term EBV reactivation. J. Med. Virol. 81:1088–1093, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.