Prevalence of IgG antibodies against West Nile virus in blood donors during the 2003 outbreak in Tunisia

Riabi, Samira; Gallian, Pierre; Gaaloul, Imed; Simon, Sophie; Harrath, Rafik; Hassine, Mohsen; de Micco, Philippe; Aouni, Mahjoub

doi:10.1016/j.trstmh.2010.03.001

« PreviousTransactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
Volume 104, Issue 7 , Pages 507-509, July 2010

Prevalence of IgG antibodies against West Nile virus in blood donors during the 2003 outbreak in Tunisia

Samira Riabi
- Laboratoire des Maladies Transmissibles (LR99-ES27), Faculté de Pharmacie, Rue Avicenne, 5000, Monastir, Tunisia
- Corresponding author. Tel.: +216 96854184; fax: ++216 73 465 754.
Pierre Gallian
- Etablissement Français du Sang Alpes-Méditerranée et Faculté de Médecine, UMR CNRS 6578, Equipe “Emergence et co-évolution virale”, 27 Bd Jean Moulin, 13005 Marseille, France
Imed Gaaloul
- Laboratoire des Maladies Transmissibles (LR99-ES27), Faculté de Pharmacie, Rue Avicenne, 5000, Monastir, Tunisia
Sophie Simon
- Etablissement Français du Sang Alpes-Méditerranée et Faculté de Médecine, UMR CNRS 6578, Equipe “Emergence et co-évolution virale”, 27 Bd Jean Moulin, 13005 Marseille, France
Rafik Harrath
- Laboratoire des Maladies Transmissibles (LR99-ES27), Faculté de Pharmacie, Rue Avicenne, 5000, Monastir, Tunisia
Mohsen Hassine
- Laboratoire d’Hématologie, CHU Fattouma Bourguiba, Monastir, CHU Mahdia, Tunisia
Philippe de Micco
- Etablissement Français du Sang Alpes-Méditerranée et Faculté de Médecine, UMR CNRS 6578, Equipe “Emergence et co-évolution virale”, 27 Bd Jean Moulin, 13005 Marseille, France
Mahjoub Aouni
- Laboratoire des Maladies Transmissibles (LR99-ES27), Faculté de Pharmacie, Rue Avicenne, 5000, Monastir, Tunisia

Received 9 September 2009; received in revised form 2 March 2010; accepted 2 March 2010.

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of anti-West Nile virus (WNV) IgG among two populations of Tunisian blood donors living in areas where human outbreaks of WNV have occurred. Cohorts A (Monastir) and B (Mahdia) included 742 and 102 blood donors respectively. Sera were tested by IgG ELISA test and results were confirmed by PRNT test. WNV neutralizing antibodies were detected in 32 (4.3%) and in 14 (13.7%) sera in cohorts A and B respectively. The prevalence of anti-WNV IgG was significantly higher in cohort B than in cohort A (P<0.001) and was significantly lower in females than in males (P<0.001).