Prevalence of CMV antibodies among women of childbearing age in different social environments in southern Israel

The prevalence rate of IgG antibodies to cytomegalovirus (CMV) was determined in a sample of 567 women of childbearing age in the southern part of Israel by the immunoperoxidase assay to membrane antigen (IPAMA) technique. Urban Jewish women of Afro‐Asian origin showed significantly higher rates of seropositivity than urban Jewish women of European‐American origin (80% vs 65%, respectively, P < 0.001), closely resembling the level of CMV seropositivity found in Afro‐Asian and European‐American countries in the same age and sex population groups. The Bedouin women showed slightly lower rates of CMV seropositivity (75%) than Jewish women of Afro‐Asian origin. Particularly high rates of CMV seropositivity were detected in women who live in a kibbutz environment: 96% in women of Afro‐Asian origin and 80% in women of Euro‐American origin. Multiple discriminant analysis also singles out the kibbutz environment as a major contributor to the variance between the groups tested (P < 0.003).