Abstract：
BACKGROUND: Tick- and louse-borne relapsing fever are highly-neglected, vector-borne diseases caused by diverse Borrelia species. Presently, there are no data available on the endemicity of tick- and louse-borne relapsing fever spirochetes in Kenya. Here, we present data of a retrospective study on the seroprevalence of louse-borne relapsing fever (LBRF) in northern Kenya.
METHODS: A novel immunoassay, recently established for the diagnosis of LBRF was utilized to screen 2005 blood samples collected from individuals with fever without a source in Turkana County, Kenya between May 2009 and November 2010 for anti-LBRF antibodies.
RESULTS: Out of the 2005 sera analyzed, 287 samples (14.3 %) were considered anti-LBRF IgG positive. Subsequent analyses revealed that 87 out of 152 sera randomly selected from these 2005 samples were tested positive (57.2 %) for anti-LBRF IgM antibodies. Most of the IgG and IgM positive samples were from individuals living in northern regions of Turkana County.
CONCLUSIONS: Our serological finding provides strong evidence for the occurrence of LBRF in Kenya.
METHODS: A novel immunoassay, recently established for the diagnosis of LBRF was utilized to screen 2005 blood samples collected from individuals with fever without a source in Turkana County, Kenya between May 2009 and November 2010 for anti-LBRF antibodies.
RESULTS: Out of the 2005 sera analyzed, 287 samples (14.3 %) were considered anti-LBRF IgG positive. Subsequent analyses revealed that 87 out of 152 sera randomly selected from these 2005 samples were tested positive (57.2 %) for anti-LBRF IgM antibodies. Most of the IgG and IgM positive samples were from individuals living in northern regions of Turkana County.
CONCLUSIONS: Our serological finding provides strong evidence for the occurrence of LBRF in Kenya.
摘要：
背景：蜱和虱子传播的复发性发热被高度忽视，由多种疏螺旋体属引起的媒介传播疾病。目前,没有关于肯尼亚蜱和虱子传播的复发性螺旋体热流行的数据。这里,我们提供了肯尼亚北部虱子传播的复发性热（LBRF）血清阳性率的回顾性研究数据。
方法：一种新的免疫测定法，最近为诊断LBRF而建立的用于筛选2005年从图尔卡纳县没有来源的发烧个体收集的血液样本，2009年至2010年肯尼亚抗LBRF抗体。
结果：在分析的2005年血清中，287个样品(14.3%)被认为是抗LBRFIgG阳性。随后的分析显示,从这些2005年样品中随机选择的152份血清中的87份对于抗LBRFIgM抗体测试为阳性(57.2%)。大多数IgG和IgM阳性样品来自居住在图尔卡纳县北部地区的个体。
结论：我们的血清学发现为肯尼亚LBRF的发生提供了强有力的证据。
方法：一种新的免疫测定法，最近为诊断LBRF而建立的用于筛选2005年从图尔卡纳县没有来源的发烧个体收集的血液样本，2009年至2010年肯尼亚抗LBRF抗体。
结果：在分析的2005年血清中，287个样品(14.3%)被认为是抗LBRFIgG阳性。随后的分析显示,从这些2005年样品中随机选择的152份血清中的87份对于抗LBRFIgM抗体测试为阳性(57.2%)。大多数IgG和IgM阳性样品来自居住在图尔卡纳县北部地区的个体。
结论：我们的血清学发现为肯尼亚LBRF的发生提供了强有力的证据。
