Seroprevalence of Sindbis virus and associated risk factors in northern Sweden

• Main Authors: C Ahlm, M Eliasson, O Vapalahti, And M Evander
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Northern Sweden
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.1080.1399; http://umu.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2%3A663216/FULLTEXT02.pdf

This is the published version of a paper published in Epidemiology and Infection. Citation for the original published paper (version of record): Ahlm, C., Eliasson, M., Vapalahti, O., Evander, M. (2014) Seroprevalence of Sindbis virus and associated risk factors in northern Sweden. Epidemiology and Infection SUMMARY Mosquito-borne Sindbis virus (SINV) cause disease characterized by rash, fever and arthritis which often leads to long-lasting arthralgia. To determine the seroprevalence of SINV and associated risk factors in northern Sweden, a randomly selected population aged between 25 and 74 years were invited to join the MONICA study. Serum from 1611 samples were analysed for specific IgG antibodies. Overall, 2·9% had IgG against SINV. More men (3·7%) than women (2·0%) were SINV seropositive (P = 0·047) and it was more common in subjects with a lower educational level (P = 0·013) and living in small, rural communities (P < 0·001). Seropositivity was associated with higher waist circumference (P = 0·1), elevated diastolic blood pressure (P = 0·037), and history of a previous stroke (P = 0·011). In a multiple logistic regression analysis, adjusting for known risk factors for stroke, seropositivity for SINV was an independent predictor of having had a stroke (odds ratio 4·3, 95% confidence interval 1·4-13·0, P = 0·011).