Title : High Seroprevalence of RSV Antibodies in Adults Indicates Potential Undetected Transmission and Requires Further Public Health Assessment
Abstract:
Background: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection can cause serious illness and mortality in older adults (≥ 65 years). This study aimed to assess the seroprevalence of RSV IgG antibodies in adults from a midwestern United States cohort and compare antibody titers among individuals with a history of recent RSV vaccination or infection.
Methodology: 591 serum samples from the Mayo Clinic Biobank’s residual sera repository (2022 – 2023) were pulled and assigned to three groups: seroprevalence (random; n = 480), infected (individuals with documented RSV infection; n = 40), or vaccinated (individuals with documented RSV vaccination; n = 71). Samples were tested for anti-RSV IgG using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).
Results: Among the seroprevalence group, 83.8% tested RSV IgG positive. Males had significantly higher antibody titers than females (p = 0.005), and antibody titers increased post-RSV season (p = 0.03). Compared to the seroprevalence group, RSV antibody titers were significantly higher in both the infected (p < 0.001) and vaccinated (p = 0.003) groups.
Conclusion: This study demonstrates a high seroprevalence of RSV IgG in adults without reported infection or vaccination, suggesting underreporting and potential undetected transmission and emphasizing the need for surveillance of the general population and further assessment from a public health perspective. Our findings also reveal variations across sex and seasonality, corroborate waning immunity following RSV infection, and reinforce the importance of surveillance of RSV immunity to track susceptibility, anticipate outbreaks, and inform timely public health interventions.
