Seroprevalence of Chlamydia pneumoniae infection in Taiwan

Objectives. To survey the seroprevalence of Chlamydia pneumoniae (C. pneumoniae) infection in healthy subjects in Taiwan. Materials and methods. We used microimmunofluorescence antibody assay to survey the prevalence of antibodies to C. pneumoniae in 620 serum samples from healthy subjects aged 6 months to 86 years in Taiwan. Results. The mean prevalence (±SD) of IgG antibodies against C. pneumoniae at titer ≧ 1:16 was 55.8% (range 7.8-81.8%). The antibody prevalence was low in children under the age of 10 years (7.8%), and increased rapidly with age. Most individual acquired infection during the second and third decades of life with highest antibody prevalence reached up to 81.8% at fifth decade of life and remained high (70%) thereafter. Conclusions. Chlamydia pneumoniae infection is highly endemic in Taiwan. These data contribute to the understanding of asymptomatic infections with C. pneumoniae in general population and should serve as a basis for studies on the role of C. pneumoniae infections and their related diseases.