Secretory and serum immunoglobulin class-specific antibodies to mumps virus after a natural mumps infection

Abstract

Immune responses in serum and saliva were studied in 50 individuals following a natural exposure to mumps virus, using ELISA for detection of mumps-specific IgG, IgM and IgA antibodies. Laboratory diagnosis of acute mumps using a single saliva sample offers a convenient alternative to collection of blood: high levels of mumps IgM were found in all serum and saliva samples taken from patients with acute mumps. Furthermore, in such patients, levels of mumps IgA were considerably higher in saliva compared with serum, with the exception of three patients. Conversely, mumps-specific IgM and IgA were present in neither serum nor saliva samples of patients with a remote mumps infection. Saliva samples are not suitable for immune status (IgG) determinations because high levels of mumps IgG antibodies were present only in serum samples of patients with either a recently acquired (≥ 15 days after onset) or a remote mumps infection. Serum and saliva mumps-specific IgA antibodies appeared to be a reliable acute phase marker as, like IgM antibodies, they were present in all tested serum/saliva samples taken shortly after the onset of the disease (1–5 days), were detected for a limited period of time (up to 3 months), and were absent from serum and saliva samples of patients with a remote infection.