Infection by the Epstein-Barr virus between the years 2006-2015 in the health area of Santiago de Compostela. Relationship with age and sex

Introduction. In Spain, the age and sex to which the primary infection by EBV is produced is poorly studied. The objective of this work is to know its relation with the presence of the primary infection by EBV between the years 2006 and 2015 in our health area. Patients and methods. From the Santiago de Compostela health area between 2006 and 2015, 578 patients with serological patterns of EBV primoinfection were selected. This patients presented serological results of IgM-VCA positive, IgG-VCA positive and EBNA negative. Results. We found 260/578 (45%) adolescents (1119 years). In the number of cases by age the maximum was observed, at 2 and 16 years. Between 14-19 years, 62% (79/127) of women between 14-16 years of age, median age 15.8 years (IQ: 14.8-16.4) compared to 48% (49/102) of men, median age 16 years (IQ: 15.7-16.6) (p = 0.032, p = 0.02, respectively). Conclusions. As in our study, in the developed countries the majority of primary infections by EBV occur in adolescence and a bimodal distribution is observed in relation to age. During adolescence women acquire before men the first infection by EBV.