Determination of Seroprevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi IgG in Adult Population Living in Trabzon

Abstract

Background:Lyme borreliosis is a tick-borne, multi-systemic infectious disease that is thought to be wide spread in Turkey even though studies on its seroprevalence are limited.Aims:To determine the seroprevalence of Lyme borreliosis in part of north-eastern Tur-key (in the city of Trabzon), and to identify possible relationships between seropositivity and various factors such as location, gender, age group, occupation, income, and educational level.Study Design:Retrospective cross-sectional study.Methods:A total of 884 blood samples collected from provincial and district health centers serving a population of about 800,000 were included in this study. ELISA was used to determine the anti-Borrelia IgG antibody levels in the samples. Samples that yielded positive results by ELISA were further subjected to western blot (WB).Results:IgG antibodies were found in 128 samples (14.5%). Statistical analysis revealed significant differences between age groups and educational levels in terms of the incidence of seropositivity, whereas location, gender, occupational group and income level had no effect (p<0.001, p<0.001, p=0.948, p=0.645, p=0.131, p=0.080 respectively).Conclusions:The risk of contracting Lyme borreliosis in Trabzon is high, and necessary measures need to be taken to avoid the spread of disease.

Occupational Lyme Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…Frequent or permanent contact with forest environments, especially between March and November when tick activity is highest in both endemic and non-endemic areas, has been reported as the most likely cause of BB infection in forestry workers [ 46 , 54 ]. Being a member of this occupational category is not in itself a risk factor, the real risk lies in the type of tasks performed, and the operational setting Within the same category, performing manual activities in forests (e.g., woodcutting) was associated with higher BB seroprevalence than doing indoor administrative tasks [ 51 , 52 , 58 , 63 , 65 , 74 ]. The risk of contracting BB infection also increased if foresters ate meals in woodland while working outdoors [ 76 ], or performed recreational activities in natural environments, especially in gardens [ 58 , 59 , 60 ].…”

Protozoan and Microbial Pathogens of House Cats in the Province of Tekirdag in Western Turkey

“…Borrelia burgdorferi DNA was detected in ticks collected from cats in Germany and France [ 81 ] and in 25.7% of Ixodes scapularis ticks collected from cats at veterinary practices in the USA [ 82 ]. The seropositivity for LD in Trabzon Province of Turkey ranged between 0.9–14.5% [ 83 ]. Between 2010 and 2018 in the USA, 476,000 LD cases were diagnosed annually.…”

Systematic review of Lyme disease in Turkey

“…In the USA, 985 inpatient admissions for LD and 44,445 outpatient LD diagnoses between the years of 2005 and 2010 were reported with an estimated annual incidence as 106.6 cases per 100,000 persons. 44 Seroprevelance studies on LD show that Borrelia burgdorferi seropositivity is in the range of 0.9-14.5% in different cities of Turkey, [45][46][47][48][49][50] whereas these rates are in the range of 2.6-5.4% in different subgroups and different countries of Europe. 51,52 Weather conditions or regional distribution of specific tick vectors may explain these differences.…”