Evaluation of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato seroprevalencein the province of Bolu, Turkey*

Abstract

disease is a multisystemic disease caused by Borrelia species, and it is transmitted to humans by ticks of the species Ixodes. There are three genotypes of the Lyme disease agent: Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto, Borrelia garinii, and Borrelia afzelii. They are grouped together under the name B. burgdorferi sensu lato (1). The causative agent of Lyme disease, B. burgdorferi, was isolated in 1982 (2). Lyme disease is evident in three stages. The first stage includes erythema migrans (EM) and needs no serological testing. Diagnosis becomes more difficult in the second and third stages. In such cases, two-step diagnosis is necessary. The first step is based on an enzymelinked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test, and positive results should be confirmed by Western blot (WB) (3). Cross-reactions have been found between antibodies to syphilis, leptospirosis, relapsing fever, varicella, infectious mononucleosis, and some autoimmune diseases (systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis), and ELISA tests may provide false positive results so the results should be confirmed by WB (4). This disease is a common tick-borne zoonosis in European countries and the United States. In Turkey, the first cases were reported in 1990 in the Black Sea and Aegean regions (1). Because Lyme disease is not a compulsory notification disease in Turkey and due to confusion with clinical signs of other diseases, the exact prevalence is not known.In the present study, the aim was to determine the seroprevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato in the city center and the province of Bolu, Turkey.

Seroprevalence of hantavirus and Borreliaburgdorferi in Düzce (Turkey) forest villages and the relationship with sociodemographic features

“…When the seroprevalence rates were examined for North American, European, and Asian countries where LD is prevalent, the prevalence of B. burgdorferi IgG varied between 4% and 13% (29)(30)(31). In Turkey, the positivity of B. burgdorferi IgG was found to be 0.9% in the provinces of Van and Manisa, 4.6% in Bolu, and 6% in Düzce (by the present study) (32)(33)(34). The difference between the regions could be attributed to geographical location, climatic conditions, and species of ticks living in the region.…”

“…Studies on the seroprevalence of B. burgdorferi have reported that the seroprevalence of LD is low in groups with high socioeconomic and educational levels (28,35). Bucak et al (33) found that the prevalence was higher in the illiterate population than in the literate population. In the current study, it was observed that B. burgdorferi IgG positivity decreased as the level of education increased.…”

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.…”

Lyme Disease

“…[5] tarafından 2010 yılında bildirilmiştir. Türkiye'den bazı seroepidemiyolojik çalışmalar Tablo 1'de sunulmuştur [6,[13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30] . Ülkemizde hastalık bildirimi zorunlu hastalıklar kategorisine alınarak "Klinik Bakteriyoloji Tanı Standartları Çalışma Grubu" tarafından referans laboratuvar özellikleri standardize edilmiş ve Türkiye Halk Sağlığı Kurumu tarafından düzenlenmiştir [31] .…”

“…Tablo 1. Türkiye'de insan, kene, fare ve atlarda yapılan bazı seroepidemiyolojik çalışmalar [6,[13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30] Yazar/referans Çalışma türü Coğrafi bölge…”