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. 2008 Mar;36(2):130-4.
doi: 10.1007/s15010-007-7192-7. Epub 2008 Mar 31.

Immunity to varicella zoster virus among young adults: a decline prior to widespread uptake of varicella vaccines

I Grotto  1 , R D Balicer, Z Smetana, N Davidovitch, Y Bar-Zeev, E Mendelson, S Zarka, M Huerta
Affiliations

Immunity to varicella zoster virus among young adults: a decline prior to widespread uptake of varicella vaccines

I Grotto et al. Infection. 2008 Mar.

Abstract

Background: The epidemiology of chickenpox in Israel is changing, mainly due to the increasing - but not universal - uptake of varicella vaccine.

Patients and methods: We conducted a seroprevalence study of varicella zoster virus (VZV) antibodies among 536 Israeli military recruits 18 years of age, on the basis of a representative sample of sera collected in 2003.

Results: The overall seroprevalence rate was 94.6%, which was significantly lower than that observed in a similar population in 1992 (98.4%, p < 0.001). The rate was lower among subjects whose fathers had less than 12 years of schooling (89.8%, p = 0.033). No statistically significant differences were observed when data were stratified by sex, subject's level of education, or origin.

Conclusion: This decline in the level of immunity must be considered when determining pre- and post-exposure vaccination policy among young adults in crowded environments.

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