first seroepidemiological investigation of human enterovirus 71 in iran

Background and objectives: human enterovirus 71 (ev-a71) is the causative agent for many dermal to neurological diseases especially polio-like paralysis outbreaks around the world. this study, the first of this kind in iran, aimed to find neutralizing antibodies against ev-a71 in serum of healthy individuals in different age groups based on neutralization test (nt). materials and methods: in this cross-sectional study, 547 serum samples were collected from healthy individuals who were referring for routine checkup tests (aged from under 6 months to over 31 years old) to imam-khomeini hospital in tehran during january-december 2015. serum samples were examined by nt in cell culture to detect neutralizing antibodies against ev-a71. in the next step, some of the positive samples were subjected to complete titration to determine the exact titer of anti-ev-a71 antibodies.results: of 547 samples, 310 (56.7%) were positive for ev-a71 neutralizing antibody. the presence of the antibody increased with age (p<0.001), and there was a significant statistical relationship between sex and the presence of antibody (p=0.009). conclusion: our results demonstrated an apparent but limited circulation of ev-a71 in our society. after the worldwide eradication of poliovirus, ev-a71 which can cause polio-likes syndrome, might be the new challenge for our health care system as regard more in depth research is however needed.