OBJECTIVE To determine seroprevalence of FeLV and FIV infection among cats in North America and risk factors for seropositivity. DESIGN Prospective cross-sectional survey. ANIMALS 18,038 cats tested at 345 veterinary clinics (n=9,970) and 145 animal shelters (8,068) between August and November 2004. PROCEDURE Cats were tested with a point-of-care ELISA for FeLV antigen and FIV antibody. A...

BACKGROUND In 2004, universal childhood varicella vaccination was introduced in Germany. We aimed to determine the age-specific prevalence of anti-varicella zoster virus (VZV) IgG-antibodies among children in the pre-varicella vaccine era in Germany, to identify factors associated with VZV seropositivity, and to assess the suitability of a commercially available ELISA for VZV seroepidemiologica...

OBJECTIVES To determine the frequency of antibody seropositivity of Toxoplasma gondii  infection in a cancer patient population. We also explored on association of Toxoplasma gondii seropositivity with selected variables. Methods: This is a prospective cross-sectional study conducted at  Prince Faisal bin Bandar cancer center, Qassim, Saudi Arabia, from November 2014 to  March 2015. One hundred...

BACKGROUND Although there is serologic evidence of exposure of cats to Leptospira spp., clinical disease is rarely reported in cats. OBJECTIVE To compare the seropositivity and urinary polymerase chain reaction (PCR) status for Leptospira spp. between healthy (H) cats and cats with kidney disease (KD), to investigate the serovars potentially involved, and to evaluate potential risk factors. ...

BACKGROUND Since African-Americans have twice the prevalence of cytomegalovirus (CMV) infections as age-matched Caucasians we sought to determine the ages and possible sources of infection of African-American children. METHODS Subjects were 157 African-American healthy children and adolescents and their 113 household adults in Richmond VA. Families completed a questionnaire, provided saliva f...

BACKGROUND Both microRNAs and human papillomavirus (HPV) infection play an important role in the development and progression of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). In addition, microRNAs affect all facets of the immune/inflammation responses to infection, which may control HPV clearance. We thus hypothesized that microRNA polymorphisms modify the association between HPV16 seropositivity and OS...

The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of anti-Neospora caninum antibodies and risk factors associated with seropositivity in 240 dogs from rural areas of the Lavras, Belo Horizonte and Nanuque regions, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The indirect fluorescence antibody test (IFAT) with a cutoff of 50 was used to assess the frequency of seropositive dogs. The risk factor analysis wa...

To assess risk factors for anemia in late pregnancy, we studied healthy pregnant women with a singleton uncomplicated pregnancy of > or = 32 weeks attending the prenatal clinic in the Provincial Hospital in Kisumu, Kenya. Between June 1996 and December 1998, 4,608 pregnant women had a blood sample collected for hemoglobin (Hb) measurement, malaria smear, and testing for human immunodeficiency v...

BACKGROUND Patients with chronic kidney disease have an increased cardiovascular risk that is not fully explained by traditional risk factors but appears to be related to increased arterial stiffness. Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is associated with increased cardiovascular risk although the mechanisms for this are unknown. We examined whether CMV seropositivity was associated with increased ...

BACKGROUND An association between Henoch-Schonlein purpura (HSP) and seropositivity for Bartonella henselae (BH) has been described. The objective of this study was to see if such an association exists in northern Alberta. METHODS Immunofluorescent antibody testing utilizing an antigen prepared from B. henselae was undertaken on sera from six children with current HSP, 22 children with remote...