Association of personal factors and season of sampling with virus-specific IgG data
Results of the mutually-adjusted association study are presented in Figure 3 and Table S3. Among children in EGEA1, an older age was significantly associated with higher RSV and RV-B specific IgG levels (p=0.02 and 0.003, respectively). Female sex and lower BMI were associated with higher RV-A/B/C-specific IgG levels but no association was observed for RSV-specific IgG levels. Passive smoking and season of sampling were not associated with RSV- nor RV-specific IgG levels.
Among adults in EGEA2, an older age was associated with higher RSV-specific IgG levels, and conversely with lower RV-specific IgG levels. Overall, females had higher RV-specific IgG levels than males (significant association with RV-B and trend for an association with RV-A and RV-C). Higher BMI was associated with lower levels of RV-specific IgG, but not with RSV-specific IgG. Former smokers, and in a greater extent current smokers had higher IgG levels to RSV and RV than never-smokers. Samples collected in January to June and October to December showed higher RSV and RV-specific IgG levels than samples collected from July to September.
Overall, all these associations were found separately among individuals with and without ever-asthma, except in children for the associations between RSV-specific IgG levels and age and BMI which were specifically observed among children with asthma (Figures S4-5).
In children, very similar age effect on RSV and RV-specific IgG levels were observed in boys and girls (Table S4). In adults, higher RSV-specific IgG levels and lower RV-specific IgG levels with age were observed both in men and women, although the negative association with RV-C was stronger in women as compared to men (p for age-sex interaction were 0.003) (Table S4). These age-sex interactions were observed only in non-asthmatic adults (Table S4).