Development of a serological assay based on a synthetic peptide selected from the VP0 capsid protein for detection of human parechoviruses.

A serological enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was developed using a synthetic peptide from the VP0 protein of human parechoviruses (HPeVs). Seroprevalence for HPeVs was 70% in children of < or = 5 years of age and 95% in adults. For children from whom serial sera were sampled, seropositivity increased from 22% to 88% between 2 and 24 months of age.