1. Seroprevalence of typhus group and spotted fever group Rickettsia exposures on Reunion island
- Author
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Patrick Gérardin, Naël Zemali, Marie Bactora, Guillaume Camuset, Elsa Balleydier, Hervé Pascalis, Vanina Guernier, Corinne Mussard, Antoine Bertolotti, Yatrika Koumar, Florence Naze, Sandrine Picot, Laurent Filleul, Frédéric Pages, Pablo Tortosa, and Julien Jaubert
- Subjects
Serology ,Immunofluorescence ,Seroepidemiologic study ,Serosurvey ,Stored frozen serum ,Murine typhus ,Medicine ,Biology (General) ,QH301-705.5 ,Science (General) ,Q1-390 - Abstract
Abstract Objective Murine typhus has been increasingly reported on Reunion island, Indian ocean, following documentation of eight autochthonous infections in 2012–2013. We conducted a serosurvey to assess the magnitude of the seroprevalence of rickettsioses in the population. Two hundred and forty-one stored frozen sera taken from the 2009 Copanflu-RUN cohort were analysed using an immunofluorescence assay allowing to distinguish typhus group (TGR) and spotted fever group Rickesttsiae (SFGR). Seropositivity was defined for a dilution titre of Rickettsia IgG antibodies ≥ 1:64. Seroprevalence was weighted to account for the discrepancy between the Copanflu-RUN subset and the general population, as to infer prevalence at community level. Prevalence proportion ratios (PPR) were measured using log-binomial models. Results The weighted seroprevalences of typhus group rickettsioses and spotted fever group rickettsioses were of 12.71% (95% CI 8.84–16.58%) and 17.68% (95% CI 13.25–22.11%), respectively. Pooled together, data suggested that a fifth of the population had been exposed at least to one Rickettsia group. Youths (
- Published
- 2019
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