Immune status of representative infectious diseases among Japanese female university students

Misaki Katsuyama; Yuji Koike; Toshie Hirohara; Kazuhiro Kogawa

doi:10.1515/ijamh-2016-0038

Article

Immune status of representative infectious diseases among Japanese female university students

Misaki Katsuyama , Yuji Koike , Toshie Hirohara and Kazuhiro Kogawa

Published/Copyright: August 5, 2016

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From the journal International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health Volume 30 Issue 2

Abstract

Objective:

To elucidate the immune status of representative infectious diseases among Japanese youth, we retrospectively investigated serum antibody levels in university students, partly comparing these to immunization records and infectious disease histories confirmed by the maternal and child health (MCH) handbooks.

Materials and methods:

In total, 168 Japanese female university students, aged 20–21 years, were included. Data were collected from examinations of antibody titers against measles, rubella, varicella-zoster (VZ), mumps, and hepatitis B (HB) and C (HC) viruses, and from QuantiFERON^®-TB Gold tests, between 2011 and 2015. Records of immunization and infectious disease histories were available from MCH handbooks for students who agreed with the use of their data for this study (n=23).

Results:

All students had positive antibodies, detected by enzyme immunoassay (EIA), against measles, rubella, VZ, and mumps; however, seroprevalences within the range of seroprotective antibody levels were 38.1% (64/168), 67.9% (114/168), 95.9% (141/147), and 89.8% (132/147), respectively. The students had probably not been infected with HB, HC, or tuberculosis at the time of the examinations.

Discussion:

The study indicated that a two-dose vaccine for measles and rubella (MR) might not be sufficient to produce antibodies at seroprotective levels. Therefore, we propose that health care workers, including students, should receive an additional MR vaccine, even if they have received two doses of MR vaccine or if they have unknown histories of immunizations or infectious diseases. Further investigations in these areas will be needed.

Keywords: enzyme immunoassay (EIA); health care worker; seroprotective

Corresponding author: Yuji Koike, MD, PhD, Department of Health and Education, Ibaraki University College of Education, 2-1-1 Bunkyo, Mito, Ibaraki 310-8512, Japan, Tel/Fax: +81-29-228-8295

Acknowledgments

The authors declare that no honorarium, grant, or other form of payment was given to anyone to produce this manuscript and that there have been no prior publications or submissions with any overlapping information, including studies and patients. The authors have contributed substantially to the submitted work; they have reviewed it and agree with the submission of the manuscript.

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Received: 2016-4-12

Accepted: 2016-6-29

Published Online: 2016-8-5

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https://doi.org/10.1515/ijamh-2016-0038

Keywords for this article

enzyme immunoassay (EIA); health care worker; seroprotective