Seroprevalence of Varicella Zoster virus in China: an age-stratifed systematic review and meta-analysis

OBJECTIVESthe aim of this meta-analysis was pooled on the comprehensive information of the epidemiology of VZV infection and analyzed the seropositivity of VZV-IgG antibodies in different age groups in China, so as to arouse peoples attention on VZV. DESIGNSystematic review DATA SOURCESSources included on PubMed, the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) database, WANFANG database and the Chinese Scientific Journals Full-Text Database (CQVIP) from 1997 to 2019. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA(1) the Chinese and English literatures of study on varicella-zoster virus immunization epidemics in different regions of China; (2) The literature has obvious age stratification; (3) The subjects are general people; (4) VZV sero-prevalence in the population investigated by the literature research institute. Exclusion criteria: Any study that did not contain these information was excluded. DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESISTwo evaluators independently retrieved documents and extracted data. Information about the study design, eligible population, age and gender distribution, inclusion and exclusion criteria were checked. When they disagreed, they could solve the problem by discussion or by soliciting opinions from third parties. RESULTSLiteratures were screened according to the inclusion criteria and 10 studies from 1997 to 2019 with a total of 11666 individuals were included. The overall VZV seroprevalence in the Chinese population was 65.80% (95% CI; 56.5% - 75.1%), and the peak prevalence was seen in the age 36-45 93.50% (95% CI; 0.917-0.953) while the VZV seroprevalence rate (82.20%, 95% CI: 0.544-1.099) was not increased in individuals of 45 and older. CONCLUSIONThe incidence of VZV increases with age, and there was no significant difference between different genders or regions. This results can provide epidemiological evidence for the prevention and treatment of VZV. Strengths and limitations of this studyO_LIA broad search strategy and systematic review methodology were used to generate this comprehensive review on advice for prevention and treatment of VZV. C_LIO_LIEvery inclusion article was assessed with a risk of bias tool and/or a quality assessment tool. C_LIO_LIBecause of relatively small sample size, the incomplete data, and the different research objects, there are some bias in the outcomes, which limits the ability to make discrete conclusions. C_LIO_LIThere were not enough articles identified to perform a meta-analysis. C_LI