High Seropositivity Rate of Neutralizing Antibodies to Astrovirus VA1 in Human Populations
Andrew B. Janowski, Macee C. Owen, Holly Dudley, Tomás López, Rafaela Espinosa, Memory Elvin‐Lewis, A Colichón, Carlos F. Arias, Peter D. Burbelo, David Wang
Abstract
Astroviruses are human pathogens with emerging disease associations, including the recent recognition of their capacity to cause meningoencephalitis. Astrovirus VA1 is the most commonly identified astrovirus genotype from cases of human encephalitis, but it is unknown what percentage of the human population has neutralizing antibodies to VA1. We found that 76.3 to 78.2% of adult humans ≥20 years of age in two geographically and socioeconomically distinct cohorts are seropositive for VA1, with the majority of infections occurring between 2 and 9 years of age. These results demonstrate that VA1 has been circulating in human populations over the past 2 decades and that most humans develop neutralizing antibodies against this virus by adulthood. However, a subset of humans lack evidence of neutralizing antibodies and are at risk for diseases caused by VA1, including encephalitis.