Seropositivity diagnosis for hantavirus in Jataí, Goiás State, Brazil.

INTRODUCTION:: Emerging diseases are of great interest, especially those associated with high mortality rates such as hantaviruses. We aimed to conduct a seroepidemiological survey to determine the levels of hantavirus infection.

METHODS:: In-house enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to detect specific antibodies.

RESULTS:: Of the 429 samples collected, seropositivity of 3.9% to anti-hantavirus immunoglobulin G (IgG) was observed (CI 95%: 2.3-5.7). Moreover, in three cases, immunoglobulin M (IgM) was detected, of which two were diagnosed as hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS).

CONCLUSIONS:: Our data indicate the considerable occurrence of previous hantavirus infections, highlighting occurrences from sub-clinical cases to HCPS.