Seroprevalence of Sindbis virus and associated risk factors in northern Sweden

• Published in: Epidemiology and Infection
• Main Authors: Ahlm, Clas, Eliasson, Mats, Vapalahti, O., Evander, Magnus
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Umeå universitet, Infektionssjukdomar 2014
• Subjects: Arboviruses; epidemiology; risk assessment; Sindbis virus; zoonoses; Infectious Medicine; Infektionsmedicin; Public Health; Global Health; Social Medicine and Epidemiology; Folkhälsovetenskap; global hälsa; socialmedicin och epidemiologi; Northern Sweden
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-82777; https://doi.org/10.1017/S0950268813002239

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).