Seroprevalence of Epstein-Barr Virus Infection in U.S. Children Ages 6-19, 2003-2010

Background: Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a common herpesvirus linked to infectious mononucleosis and multiple cancers. There are no national estimates of EBV seroprevalence in the United States. Our objective was to estimate the overall prevalence and sociodemographic predictors of EBV among U.S. children and adolescents aged 6–19. Methods: We calculated prevalence estimates and prevalence ratios for EBV seroprevalence using data from the 2003–2010 U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) for children aged 6–19 (n = 8417). Poisson regression was used to calculate multivariable-adjusted prevalence ratios across subgroup categories (sex, race/ethnicity, parental education, household income, household size, foreign-born, BMI, and household smoking). Findings: Overall EBV seroprevalence was 66.5 % (95 % CI 64.3%–68.7%.). Seroprevalence increased with age, ranging from 54.1 % (95 % CI 50.2%–57.9%) for 6–8 year olds to 82.9 % (95 % CI 80.0%–85.9%) for 18–19 year olds. Females had slightly higher seroprevalence (68.9%, 95 % CI 66.3%–71.6%) compared to males (64.2%, 95 % CI 61.7%–66.8%). Seroprevalence was substantially higher for Mexican-Americans (85.4%, 95 % CI 83.1%–87.8%) and Non-Hispanic Blacks (83.1%, 95 % CI 81.1%– 85.1%) than Non-Hispanic Whites (56.9%, 95 % CI 54.1%–59.8%). Large differences were also seen by family income, wit