SynthesisPloS one2026
JC polyomavirus (JCV, HPyV2) seropositivity prevalence in healthy subjects: Systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in PloS one, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundJC polyomavirus (JCV, HPyV2) causes progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy and has been linked to cancer development. JCV may naturally be highly prevalent in the human population and not just in diseased populations.
objectiveThe aim of this study was to the estimate the overall seroprevalence of JCV in the healthy human population by age of subjects, region or country of study, and assay methodology.
methodsA systematic review and meta-analysis with meta-regression using STATA 18.
resultsPooled JCV seroprevalence from 25 population-level studies (N = 18,331) was 61% (95% CI, 56% - 66%, z = 33.84, p < 0.001). Meta-regression and subgroup analyses showed that subject age was the only predictive variable on JCV seroprevalence (z = 2.93, p = 0.003). Age was not normally distributed across seroprevalence. A detrended normal P-P plot under the cubic model with age on seroprevalence explained 99.9% of variance in the dataset (R2 = 0.999). The theories that grounded this study were the ecological systems theory, which support the study result that JCV infection appears ubiquitous in the human population and may be acquired early in life by two years of age.
conclusionJCV seroprevalence starts high in early infant age, descends in late childhood/early adulthood, and starts to rise again towards older age, most probably, by viral reactivation due to immune senescence. The overall findings support the hypothesis that JCV is ubiquitous in the healthy human population, and not just diseased populations, which may have implications with JCV treatment, screening, and vaccine development. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first meta-analysis conducted on JCV seropositivity in healthy populations.
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