Spotted Fever in Poland
By Linda on Dec 22, 2010 in Infections
Excerpt:
Abstract The presence of antibodies toOccurrence of Spotted Fever Rickettsiosessera of 129 forest
workers from northeastern and southern Poland was assayed by indirect
immunofluorescence. Previous environmental studies revealed presence of
spotted fever group (SFG) rickettsiae in ticks collected from these areas.
Additionally, the workers were examinated for the presence of antibodies
specific to other tick-borne bacteria: Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Bartonella
spp., and B.
burgdorferi.
The results of the studies have shown the presence of specific SFG
rickettsiae antibodies in 14.7% of tested forest workers, among them 78.9%
had species-specific antibodies to R. massiliae. Contrary to previous
detection R.
helvetica and R. slovaca in ticks collected in the environment of the
examined area, no species-specific antibodies to these species were detected
in studied workers. Antibodies to B. burgdorferi (44%) were found in forest
workers more often than antibodies to other tested pathogens. B. burgdorferi
was also the main component of coinfections. The most frequent confirmed
serologically coinfections were simultaneous infections with B. burgdorferi
and Bartonella spp. found in 10% of tested individuals. So far, SFG
rickettsiae infections have not been diagnosed in Poland; however, the
presence of the bacteria in ticks and presence of specific antibodies in
humans exposed to arthropods show the need for monitoring the situation. The
list of tick-borne pathogens is increasing, but knowledge about the
possibility of humans acquiring multipathogens infections after tick bite
still needs evaluation.
