SEROPREVALENCE OF HANTAVIRUS ANTIBODIES IN GERMANY AS DETERMINED BY ANEW RECOMBINANT ENZYME-IMMUNOASSAY

In order to elucidate the epidemiological importance of hemorrhagic fe ver with renal syndrome in Germany, the prevalence of antibodies again st hantaviruses was determined in 13,358 sera from residents of variou s geographic regions, 1,284 sera from occupational risk groups and 287 sera from chronic hemodialysis patients. Serological investigations w ere performed using a highly specific transferable solid phase enzyme immunoassay based on the recombinant nucleocapsid proteins of a Hantaa n and a Puumala serotype strain. The overall antibody prevalence was f ound to be 1.68 %. In the serum panels from western and southern Germa ny, it was determined to be 1.83 % on average in contrast to only 0.8 % in the panel from eastern Germany. An endemic focus revealing an ant ibody prevalence of 3.12 % was detected in a low-mountain area called Suebian Alb, which is located in the federal state of Baden-Wurttember g. Occupational risk groups and a group of chronic hemodialysis patien ts showed a significantly elevated antibody prevalence ranging from 3. 3 % to 10 %. The Puumala serotype was found to be the prevailing virus , but the percentage of sera predominantly recognizing the Hantaan nuc leocapsid protein increased towards the south and the east and was sig nificantly elevated in dialysis patients.