{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,12]],"date-time":"2026-02-12T06:19:57Z","timestamp":1770877197087,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":20,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,6]],"date-time":"2026-02-06T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1770336000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Ministry of Health and Welfare","award":["HG18C0015"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["HG18C0015"]}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100008130","name":"Pusan National University Hospital","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100008130","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100002543","name":"Pusan National University","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100002543","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Viruses"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is a tick-borne disease with a high mortality rate. While research has focused on high-risk rural populations and healthy individuals in endemic regions, such as Jeju Island, data on patients with underlying chronic diseases remain limited. This study aimed to evaluate the seroprevalence of SFTS virus (SFTSV) in patients with various chronic diseases across the Republic of Korea. Serum samples (n = 2948) collected from 10 regional biobanks between 2009 and 2019 were analyzed using a double-antigen sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The overall seroprevalence was 1.22% (36\/2948). Seropositivity was significantly higher in males (1.73%) than in females (0.73%, p = 0.013) and increased with age (p = 0.001), peaking at 2.73% in individuals aged 70\u201379. Geographically, the highest rates were in Gyeongbuk (3.03%), Jeonnam (2.40%), and Gangwon (1.83%). Multivariable logistic regression showed older age (adjusted odds ratio 1.47 per 10-year increase, 95% confidence interval: 1.12\u20131.97) as the strongest independent predictor of seropositivity. Patients with hepatobiliary\/pancreatic cancer (3.16%) and prostate cancer (2.50%) exhibited higher seroprevalence than those in other disease groups. SFTSV exposure is non-negligible among those with chronic diseases, particularly older males in rural provinces. Public health strategies should specifically address these vulnerable populations.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/v18020217","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,6]],"date-time":"2026-02-06T16:32:59Z","timestamp":1770395579000},"page":"217","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Seroprevalence and Epidemiological Characteristics of Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome in Patients with Chronic Diseases in Korea"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"18","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9098-3765","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jongyoun","family":"Yi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Laboratory Medicine, Pusan National University School of Medicine, Busan 49241, Republic of Korea"},{"name":"Biomedical Research Institute, Pusan National University Hospital, Busan 49241, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2930-1232","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ahreum","family":"Kim","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Biomedical Research Institute, Pusan National University Hospital, Busan 49241, Republic of Korea"},{"name":"Major of Bigdata Convergence, Pukyong National University, Busan 48513, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Maeng Seok","family":"Noh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Major of Bigdata Convergence, Pukyong National University, Busan 48513, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2662-831X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Changhoon","family":"Kim","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Biomedical Research Institute, Pusan National University Hospital, Busan 49241, Republic of Korea"},{"name":"Department of Preventive Medicine and Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Pusan National University School of Medicine, Busan 49241, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6571-5109","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hyun Jin","family":"Son","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Preventive Medicine, Dong-A University School of Medicine, Busan 49201, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Mee Kyung","family":"Ko","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Biomedical Research Institute, Pusan National University Hospital, Busan 49241, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9682-9654","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kye-Hyung","family":"Kim","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Biomedical Research Institute, Pusan National University Hospital, Busan 49241, Republic of Korea"},{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine, Pusan National University School of Medicine, Busan 49241, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,6]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) (2026, January 15). 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Pac."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"872","DOI":"10.3201\/eid2405.152104","article-title":"Seroprevalence of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus antibodies in rural areas, South Korea","volume":"24","author":"Han","year":"2018","journal-title":"Emerg. Infect. Dis."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"337","DOI":"10.3947\/ic.2019.51.4.337","article-title":"Seroprevalence of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome in the agricultural population of Jeju island, Korea, 2015\u20132017","volume":"51","author":"Yoo","year":"2019","journal-title":"Infect. Chemother."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Kim, K.-H., Kim, A., Noh, M., Kim, C., Son, H., Ko, M.K., and Yi, J. (2025). Seroprevalence and epidemiological insights into severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome on Jeju island, Republic of Korea. 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