Community seroprevalence survey for yaws and trachoma in the Western Division of Fiji

Abstract

BackgroundBoth yaws and trachoma are endemic in several countries in the Pacific. In co-endemic countries there may be potential synergies between both control programmes.MethodsWe undertook a cluster randomised trachoma and yaws seroprevalence survey of children in the Western Division of Fiji. Children were examined for skin lesions consistent with active yaws. A dried blood spot was collected which was tested using the Treponema pallidum particle agglutination (TPPA) test and an ELISA to detect antibodies against Pgp3.ResultsA total of 607 children from 305 households across 23 villages were recruited into the survey. On skin examination, no child had clinical evidence of yaws, and the TPPA assay was negative in all children (0%, 95% CI 0.0–0.6). The seroprevalence of Pgp3 antibodies was 20.9% (95% CI 17.8–24.6%).DiscussionIn this study there was neither clinical nor serological evidence that transmission of yaws was ongoing. The Pgp3 seroprevalence pattern was consistent with either low level transmission of ocular Chlamydia trachomatis or exposure to C. trachomatis in the birth canal which is consistent with a survey conducted in the same region in 2013. These data suggest neither yaws nor ocular chlamydia infection are a significant public health problem in the Western Division of Fiji.

Prevalence of signs of trachoma, ocular Chlamydia trachomatis infection and antibodies to Pgp3 in residents of Kiritimati Island, Kiribati

“…An area of each filter paper calibrated to hold 10μL of blood was tested using an ELISA for anti-Pgp3 antibodies [ 14 , 21 ]. Serum was eluted from dried blood spots overnight at 4°C into phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) supplemented with 0.3% volume/volume Tween 20 (PBST) and 5% milk powder, for a final serum dilution of 1:50.…”

“…However, Kiribati is made up of 33 atolls and islands dispersed over 3.5 million square kilometers of ocean—approximately half the size of Australia—and the expense of rolling out programme-level interventions in a nation of many tiny islands dispersed over such an area would be considerable. In addition, recent evidence suggests that the epidemiology of trachoma in Vanuatu, Fiji and the Solomon Islands is different to that in much of trachoma-endemic Africa, with a relative paucity of TT [ 13 ] and low prevalences of ocular Ct infection for the observed prevalences of TF [ 14 – 17 ]. Whether or not TT and ocular Ct infection were present elsewhere in Kiribati was therefore a question of both public health and scientific significance.…”

Serology reflects a decline in the prevalence of trachoma in two regions of The Gambia

“…Serological techniques for the detection of antibodies against Ct have been used to study the epidemiology of both urogenital and ocular Ct infections 19 , 20 . An enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) which detects antibodies against Pgp3 (pCT03) has recently been used for analysis of samples collected from trachoma-endemic regions 21 , 22 . The Pgp3 molecule is an immunogenic Ct-specific protein that is encoded by the Ct plasmid and which is highly conserved at the genetic level among Ct isolates 23 .…”

Serology reflects a decline in the prevalence of trachoma in two regions of The Gambia

“…Serological techniques for the detection of antibodies against Ct have been used to study the epidemiology of both urogenital and ocular Ct infections 17 , 18 . An enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) which detects antibodies against Pgp3 (pCT03) has recently been used for analysis of samples collected from trachoma-endemic regions 19 , 20 . The Pgp3 molecule is an immunogenic Ct-specific protein that is encoded by the Ct plasmid and which is highly conserved at the genetic level among Ct isolates 21 .…”

“…Serological techniques for the detection of antibodies against Ct have been used to study the epidemiology of both urogenital and ocular infections 12,13 . Recently, an enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) which detects antibodies against Pgp3 (pCT03)—a highly immunogenic Ct-specific protein encoded by the plasmid, which is highly conserved among Ct isolates 14 —has been used for analysis of samples collected from trachoma-endemic regions 15,16 .…”