Evaluation of clinical specimens for Rickettsia, Bartonella, Borrelia, Coxiella, Anaplasma, Franciscella and Diplorickettsia positivity using serological and molecular biology methods

FEMS Immunol Med Microbiol. 2012 Feb;64(1):82-91. doi: 10.1111/j.1574-695X.2011.00907.x. Epub 2011 Dec 13.

Abstract

We monitored clinical samples from patients of different age groups from selected regions in Slovakia. Overall seroprevalence evaluated by immunofluorescence (IFA) using nine Bartonella, two Borrelia, six rickettsial (spotted fever and typhus group), two Coxiella, and one human granulocytic ehrlichiosis Anaplasma, Franciscella tularensis and Diplorickettsia massiliensis antigens, in rural and city populations of Slovak Republic, was found to be 32% positive for spotted fever group rickettsiae. Only five (10%) of the rickettsia-positive cases evaluated by IFA were confirmed by polymerase chain reaction. Rickettsia helvetica, Rickettsia slovaca, and Rickettsia raoultii infection appear to be prevalent in Slovakia. Furthermore, Coxiella burnetii, Borrelia and, for the first time, Bartonella elisabethae were confirmed in Slovakia.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Evaluation Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Animals
  • Bacteriological Techniques / methods*
  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • Cohort Studies
  • Female
  • Fluorescent Antibody Technique / methods
  • Gram-Negative Bacteria / classification
  • Gram-Negative Bacteria / isolation & purification*
  • Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections / epidemiology*
  • Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections / microbiology
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Molecular Diagnostic Techniques / methods*
  • Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Prevalence
  • Prospective Studies
  • Serologic Tests / methods
  • Slovakia
  • Young Adult