Abstract
In recent years, hantavirus infections producing severe diseases have obtained an increased attention from public health authorities from the countries of Eurasia to the Americas. Brazil has reported 1,300 cases of hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS) from 1993 to 2010, with about 80 of them occurring in the northeast of the State of São Paulo, with 48% fatality rate. Araraquara virus was the causative agent of HCPS in the region. Considering that hantaviruses causing human disease in the Americas were unknown until 1993, we have looked for hantavirus infections in the population of Cássia dos Coqueiros county, northeast of the State of São Paulo, Brazil, before this time. This county has about 2,800 inhabitants and an economy based on agriculture, including cultivation of Brachiaria decumbens grass. The grass seeds are an important rodent attraction, facilitating transmission of hantavirus to man. Four HCPS cases were reported so far in the county. In this study, 1,876 sera collected from 1987 to 1990 were tested for IgG to hantavirus by IgG-ELISA, using the N recombinant protein of Araraquara virus as antigen. Positive results were observed in 89 (4.7%) samples, which were all collected in 1987. The positivity among urban inhabitants was 5.3%, compared with 4.3% among those living in rural areas. Our results showed that hantavirus infections occurred in Cássia dos Coqueiros, completely unrecognized, even before hantaviruses were described in the Americas.
Highlights
In recent years, hantavirus infections producing severe diseases have obtained an increased attention from public health authorities from the countries of Eurasia to the Americas
We present a serologic survey about hantavirus in sera collected from 1987 to 1990 at the county of Cássia dos Coqueiros, state of São Paulo, Brazil, which is located in an area where several cases of the disease have been observed recently
No associations were observed between the presence of antibodies to hantavirus and the variables scholarship, place of birth, and time of residence in Cássia dos Coqueiros
Summary
Recognized in 1993, hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS) is an emergent disease reported in many countries of the American continent. Until November 2010, Brazil has the highest number of HCPS patients in the Americas with about 1,300 reported cases[1]. It is a severe disease that produces pneumonia and shock, and its case fatality rate has reached 39% in Brazil. HCPS being a recently identified disease, little is known about antibody levels to hantavirus in the general population, as well as how long infections caused by these viruses have occurred in the country. We present a serologic survey about hantavirus in sera collected from 1987 to 1990 at the county of Cássia dos Coqueiros, state of São Paulo, Brazil, which is located in an area where several cases of the disease have been observed recently
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