Serological survey in persons occupationally exposed to tick-borne pathogens in cases of co-infections with Borrelia burgdorferi, Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Bartonella spp. and Babesia microti
Journal Title: Annals of Agricultural and Environmental Medicine - Year 2012, Vol 19, Issue 2
Abstract
Sera of 39 farmers, 119 foresters and 32 blood donors were investigated for the presence of antibodies against [i]B. burgdorferi[/i], [i]A. phagocytophilum[/i], [i]B. microti[/i] and [i]Bartonella[/i] spp. Semi-quantitative indirect immunofluorescence test was used to measure titers of anti-[i]A. phagocytophilum[/i], [i]B. microti[/i] and [i]Bartonella[/i] spp. IgG. ELISA test was used to measure titers of anti-[i]B. burgdorferi[/i] IgM and IgG. [i]B. burgdorferi[/i] was the most frequently observed among all the examined pathogens. 27.7% of farmers, 23.1% of forestry workers and 37.5% of control group were infected with [i]Bartonella[/i] spp. Anti-[i]A. phagocytophilum[/i] and anti-[i]B. microti[/i] reactions were observed rarely. Sera of persons with single infection dominated in farmers and forestry workers. Co-infection with 2 pathogens was observed more frequently in forestry workers and farmers than in the control group. Co-infections with 3-4 pathogens were observed only in forestry workers. Among the observed co-infections, the most frequent were: [i]B. burgdorfer[/i][i]i [/i]with [i]Bartonella[/i] spp. and [i]B. burgdorferi[/i] with [i]A. phagocytophilum[/i]. Moreover, in forestry workers, triple coinfections with [i]B. burgdorferi[/i], [i]Bartonella[/i] spp. and [i]A. phagocytophilum[/i] and one quadruple coinfection were observed. Persons with occupational risk of tick bites, especially forestry workers, more often have anti-[i]B. burgdorferi [/i]antibodies and are more often co-infected with various tick-borne pathogens than the persons from the control group. It seems that more often coinfections in persons with occupational risk of tick bites are a consequence of the higher incidence of infection with [i]B. burgdorferi[/i], as anti-[i]B. microti[/i], [i]A. phagocytophilum[/i] and [i]Bartonella spp[/i]. antibodies are not more commonly prevalent in persons with occupational risk of tick bites than in healthy volunteers.
Authors and Affiliations
Jolanta Chmielewska–Badora, Anna Moniuszko, Wioletta Żukiewicz-Sobczak, Jacek Zwoliński, Jacek Piątek, Sławomir Pancewicz
Keywords
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