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Prevalence of Anti-Hantavirus Antibodies in Patients with Hypertransaminemia in Madrid (Spain)

The hantaviruses are involved in a number of clinical syndromes of different severity and prognosis. Hantaviruses are widely distributed around the world, but the spectrum of illnesses they cause outside recognized endemic areas is unclear. A retrospective analysis was performed to detect anti-hantavirus antibodies in the serum of patients with hypertransaminemia of unknown etiology and in that of healthy members of the general population of Madrid (Spain). Antibodies were detected by indirect immunofluorescence and enzyme immunoassay; positive results were confirmed by Western blotting. Of the 182 patients with hypertransaminemia, 11 (6%) were positive for anti-hantavirus IgG antibodies; Western blotting using recombinant Puumala virus N antigen showed one of these patients to have hantavirus-specific IgM antibodies. Among the 146 healthy subjects from the general population, 3 (2%) were positive for anti-hantavirus IgG antibodies. These results show that anti-hantavirus antibodies are more commonly detected in patients with hypertransaminemia than in healthy people.

Received April 27, 2007. Accepted for publication May 16, 2007.

Acknowledgments: The authors thank Dr. Brian Hjelle for providing the plasmids for expressing the recombinant N protein of SEOV, SNV, and PUUV and Dr. Ake Lundkvist for providing the N protein of DOBV. We also thank Magdalena Delgadillo and Mónica Pérez for expert technical assistance.

Financial support: This work was supported by grants from the Spanish Ministry of Health, General Section of Sanitary Research (Project G03/059-Red EVITAR).

^* Address correspondence to Lourdes Lledó, Departamento de Microbiología y Parasitología, Universidad de Alcalá, -Ctra. Madrid-Barcelona Km. 33.6, 28871 Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain. E-mail: lourdes.lledo{at}uah.es

Authors’ addresses: Lourdes Lledó, María Isabel Gegúndez, Juan Ledesma, Jose Vicente Saz, Rosario González, and María Beltrán, Departamento de Microbiología y Parasitología, Universidad de Alcalá,-Ctra. Madrid-Barcelona Km. 33.6, 28871 Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain, Telephone: 34-91-8854794, Fax: 34-91-8854663. Cristina Domingo, Laboratorio de Arbovirus y Enfermedades Virales Importadas, Centro Nacional de Microbiología, Instituto de Salud "Carlos III" Ctra. Majadahonda_Pozuelo Km 2,200, Majadahonda, Madrid, Spain, Telephone: 34-91-8223100, Fax: 34-91-5097077 3.Rosario González, Juan Romanyk, and María Beltrán, Servicio de Microbiología, Hospital "Principe de Asturias Ctra. Alcalá-Meco s/n, 28805 Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain, Telephone: 34-91-8801825, Fax: 34-91-8801825.