Epstein-Barr virus infections in a nursery.

Tests for Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) capsid antibody were carried out on 115 children, aged 4-32 months, on admission to and discharge from the Junior Village nursery, Washington, D.C. Forty-three children positive on admission remained positive at discharge, 44/72 negative on admission remained negative at discharge, and 28/72 negative on admission converted to positive at discharge. Age, sex and season did not appear to influence the rate of EBV seroconversion among the nursery children. The only identifiable factor that significantly increased the rate of EBV seroconversion was the duration of nursery residency. The rates were 1/9 (11%), 1/29 (3%), and 11/16 (69%) among children residing for 1.5-2.4, 2.5-4.4 and 4.5-7.4 months, respectively. Children residing in the nursery for 1.5-4.4 months and children residing at home had similar EBV-seroconversion rates. For children residing in the nursery for 4.5-7.4 months, however, the observed EBV-seroconversion rate was much higher than the rate estimated for children living at home.