Analysis of clinical characteristics of children with positive antibody to Epstein-Barr virus

Abstract

Objective To investigate the epidemiological and clinical features of children with positive antibody to Epstein-barr virus. Methods From January 2014 to December 2016, 2 073 hospitalized children were divided into 4 groups according to the situation of EBV shell antigen (EBV-VCA) antibody: EBV-VCA IgM(+ )/IgG(+ )(n=68), EBV-VCA IgM(+ )/IgG(-)(n=133), EBV-VCA IgM(-)/IgG(+ )(n=692), EBV-VCA IgM(-)/IgG(-)(n=1 180), clinical data of children were collected and retrospectively analyzed. Results The overall positive rate of EBV-VCA in 2 073 children was 43.08% (893/2 073). There were significant differences in age, sex and seasonal distribution among different EBV-VCA antibody positive groups(χ2=70.69, 12.22, 17.39, all P<0.05). In this study, fever(75.70%, 676/893), cough(59.35%, 530/893)and pharyngitis(48.26%, 431/893) were the most common clinical manifestations in children with positive EBV antibody.Liver function was examined in 819 children, the serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) level increased in 12.58% (103/819) children and the serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST) level increased in 30.40%(249/819) children. Serum creatine kinase isoenzyme (CK-MB) was examined in 747 children, and the level of CK-MB increased in 388 cases (51.94%). In both EBV-VCA IgM and IgG positive and only EBV-VCA IgM positive groups, the proportion of children with typical infeetious mononucleosis (IM) manifestation was significantly higher than that in only EBV-VCA IgG positive group(61.76% vs 35.40%, 65.41% vs 35.40%, χ2=18.31, 47.78, all P<0.01). Conclusions EBV infection can occur in all ages and seasons in children, and its clinical manifestation is not specific. Therefore, parents and pediatricians should pay attention to EBV infection. Key words: Herpesvirus 4, human; Antibody; Child; Signs and symptoms