Andrea Bušová1, Erik Dorko1, Kvetoslava Rimárová1, Jana Diabelková1, Tímea Rovenská1, Eva Feketeová2, Matúš Bereš3, Róbert Čellár3, Zuzana Baranová4, Tomáš Kampe4, Karim Benhatchi5. 1. Department of Public Health and Hygiene, Faculty of Medicine, Pavol Jozef Safarik University in Kosice, Kosice, Slovak Republic. 2. Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, Pavol Jozef Safarik University in Kosice and Louis Pasteur University Hospital, Kosice, Slovak Republic. 3. Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology of Locomotory Apparatus, Faculty of Medicine, Pavol Jozef Safarik University in Kosice and Louis Pasteur University Hospital, Kosice, Slovak Republic. 4. Department of Dermatovenerology, Faculty of Medicine, Pavol Jozef Safarik University in Kosice and Louis Pasteur University Hospital, Kosice, Slovak Republic. 5. 1st Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Pavol Jozef Safarik University in Kosice and Louis Pasteur University Hospital, Kosice, Slovak Republic.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Lyme disease (LD) is chronic, multi-system zoonosis transmitted by ticks, and LD aetiological agents are spirochetes of the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato complex. The aim of the cross-sectional study was to analyze the LD incidence on the basis of the presence of specific antibodies in the serum of patients in Eastern Slovakia, and to compare the results of serological ELISA and immunoblot assays. METHODS: Venous blood with questionnaires was obtained by field sampling of respondents from Eastern Slovakia. Overall, we examined 537 human sera by the ELISA and for confirmation we tested all positive IgG antibodies against the Borrelia immunoblot assay. RESULTS: Our results confirmed the high serum prevalence of anti-Borrelia antibodies (17.9% for IgG), while the immunoblot seropositive test was confirmed in 69.8% of responders from ELISA IgG positive sera. Positive antibodies of the IgM class were found in 7.6% of the population under study. Most commonly found were antibodies against VlsE (80.2%), p41 (66.7%), p18 (56.3%), p100 (41.7%), p58 (31.3%), and p39 (30.2%). CONCLUSION: It should be noted that detection of antibodies against B. burgdorferi s.l. is only an indirect evidence of the presence of this bacterium in the development of clinical signs of LD in humans. Laboratory LD tests should be performed in accordance with valid standards, positive and uncertain results must be confirmed by the Western Blot/Immunoblot assay.
OBJECTIVE:Lyme disease (LD) is chronic, multi-system zoonosis transmitted by ticks, and LD aetiological agents are spirochetes of the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato complex. The aim of the cross-sectional study was to analyze the LD incidence on the basis of the presence of specific antibodies in the serum of patients in Eastern Slovakia, and to compare the results of serological ELISA and immunoblot assays. METHODS: Venous blood with questionnaires was obtained by field sampling of respondents from Eastern Slovakia. Overall, we examined 537 human sera by the ELISA and for confirmation we tested all positive IgG antibodies against the Borrelia immunoblot assay. RESULTS: Our results confirmed the high serum prevalence of anti-Borrelia antibodies (17.9% for IgG), while the immunoblot seropositive test was confirmed in 69.8% of responders from ELISA IgG positive sera. Positive antibodies of the IgM class were found in 7.6% of the population under study. Most commonly found were antibodies against VlsE (80.2%), p41 (66.7%), p18 (56.3%), p100 (41.7%), p58 (31.3%), and p39 (30.2%). CONCLUSION: It should be noted that detection of antibodies against B. burgdorferi s.l. is only an indirect evidence of the presence of this bacterium in the development of clinical signs of LD in humans. Laboratory LD tests should be performed in accordance with valid standards, positive and uncertain results must be confirmed by the Western Blot/Immunoblot assay.