Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2004 Nov;94(11):1952-8.
doi: 10.2105/ajph.94.11.1952.

Racial and ethnic differences in the seroprevalence of 6 infectious diseases in the United States: data from NHANES III, 1988-1994

Geraldine M McQuillan  1 , Deanna Kruszon-Moran, Benny J Kottiri, Lester R Curtin, Jacqueline W Lucas, Raynard S Kington
Affiliations

Racial and ethnic differences in the seroprevalence of 6 infectious diseases in the United States: data from NHANES III, 1988-1994

Geraldine M McQuillan et al. Am J Public Health. 2004 Nov.

Abstract

Objectives: We examined racial/ethnic differences in the seroprevalence of selected infectious agents in analyses stratified according to risk categories to identify patterns and to determine whether demographic, socioeconomic, and behavioral characteristics explain these differences.

Methods: We analyzed data from the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, comparing differences among groups in regard to the prevalence of infection with hepatitis A, B, and C viruses, Toxoplasma gondii, Helicobacter pylori, and herpes simplex virus type 2.

Results: Racial/ethnic differences were greater among those in the low-risk category. In the case of most infectious agents, odds associated with race/ethnicity were almost 2 times greater in that category than in the high-risk category.

Conclusions: Stratification and adjustment for socioeconomic factors reduced or eliminated racial/ethnic differences in the prevalence of infection in the high-risk but not the low-risk group, wherein race/ethnicity remained significant and might have been a surrogate for unmeasured risk factors.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Kington RS, Smith JP. Socioeconomic status and racial and ethnic differences in functional status associated with chronic diseases. Am J Public Health. 1997; 87:805–810. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wong MD, Shapiro MF, Boscardin WJ, Ettner SL. Contribution of major diseases to disparities in mortality. N Engl J Med. 2002;347:1585–1592. - PubMed
    1. Howard G, Anderson RT, Russell G, Howard VJ, Burk GL. Race, socioeconomic status, and cause-specific mortality. Ann Epidemiol. 2000;10:214–223. - PubMed
    1. Richardus JH, Kunst AE. Black-white differences in infectious disease mortality in the United States. Am J Public Health. 2001;91:1251–1253. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Pinner RW, Teutsch SM, Simonsen L, et al. Trends in infectious disease mortality in the United States. JAMA. 1996;275:189–193. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms