Prevalence of human coronavirus antibody in the population of southern Iraq.

Sera from adults in Southern Iraq were collected during winter and screened by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for the presence of antibodies to the two antigenic groups of human coronaviruses, the 229E and the OC43 groups: 91% of the sera had antibodies to at least one of the groups, whereas 4 and 5% of the sera had antibodies to only the 229E or OC43 groups, respectively. There was significant correlation between the levels of antibody to the 229E and OC43 group coronaviruses in these sera.