Nasopharyngeal Epstein-Barr Virus Load: An Efficient Supplementary Method for Population-Based XXXX Screening.

@entity1 @entity189 @entity2025
Serological detection of @entity2025 ( @entity2025 ) antibodies is frequently used in @entity189 ( @entity189 ) mass screening. However, the large number of seropositive subjects who require close follow-up is still a big burden. The present study aimed to detect the nasopharyngeal @entity2025 load in a high-risk population seropositive for antibodies against @entity2025 , as well as to examine whether assay for nasopharyngeal @entity2025 DNA load might reduce the number of high-risk subjects for follow-up and improve early detection of @entity189 . A prospective and population-based cohort study was conducted in southern China from 2006 through 2013. Among 22,186 @entity1 , 1045 subjects with serum immunoglobulin A (IgA) antibodies against viral capsid antigen (VCA) titers >=  1:5 were defined as high-risk group, and were then followed-up for @entity189 occurrence. Qualified nasopharyngeal swab specimens were available from 905 @entity1 and used for quantitative PCR assay. Our study revealed that 89% (802/905) subjects showed positive @entity2025 DNA in nasopharyngeal swab. The nasopharyngeal @entity2025 load in females was higher than that in males. The nasopharyngeal @entity2025 load increased with increasing serum VCA/IgA titers. Eight cases of newly diagnosed @entity189 showed an extremely elevated @entity2025 load, and 87.5% (7 of 8 @entity1 ) were early-stage NPCs. The @entity2025 loads of 8 NPCs were significantly higher than those of 897 @entity189 -free subjects (mean, 2.8*106 copies/swab [range 4.8*104-1.1*108] vs. 5.6*103 [range 0-3.8*106]). Using mean @entity2025 load in @entity189 -free population plus two standard deviations as cut-off value, a higher diagnostic performance was obtained for @entity2025 load test than serum VCA/IgA test (area under ROC, 0.980 vs 0.895). In conclusion, in a prospective and population-based study we demonstrated that an additional assay of @entity2025 load in the nasopharynx among high-risk individuals may reduce the number of subjects needed to be closely followed up and could serve as part of a @entity189 screening program in high-risk populations.
