Seroprevalencia de arbovirus en embarazadas del suroeste de Nigeria mediante pruebas de inhibición de hemaglutinación

Abstract

The Zika virus has been circulating in Africa for decades; however, there is currently a lacking of data from the general population. Zika infection is often confused with other diseases due to the similarity of its symptoms to those caused by other viruses in its family (Flaviviridae), with which it shares a high genetic identity, which makes antigenic cross-reactivity between flaviviruses to be another reason that contributes to the difficulty of laboratory diagnosis of ZIKV infection in endemic regions. African strains of Zika have not been associated with symptoms similar to fetal birth defects as in South America, therefore, its diagnosis and surveillance has been downplayed. Considering these concerns, the main objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of Zika among pregnant women in the Ibadan region, South West Nigeria, and to distinguish Zika seropositivity with Dengue-1, Dengue-2, Yellow Fever, and Chikungunya, using the Hemagglutination Inhibition Assay. 81 blood serum samples that were anti Zika NS-1 IgM and IgG positive, from pregnant women in Ibadan, South West Nigeria; were analyzed by the Hemagglutination Inhibition assay. The assay revealed 14.81% seropositivity for Zika, 30.86% for Dengue-1, 30.86% for Chikungunya, 8.64% for Dengue-2 and 1.23% for Yellow Fever. Nevertheless, the method has certain limitations and further studies are required to confirm these results and provide a definitive rate of Zika seroprevalence among the population of Ibadan.