sero-epidemiology as a tool to screen populations for exposure to mycobacterium ulceranssero-epidemiology作为一种工具为接触溃疡分枝杆菌屏幕数量.pdfVIP

Sero-Epidemiology as a Tool to Screen Populations for Exposure to Mycobacterium ulcerans 1 ¨ 2,3 4 1 Dorothy Yeboah-Manu , Katharina Roltgen , William Opare , Kobina Asan-Ampah , Kwabena Quenin- 1 1 4 5 1 1 Fosu , Adwoa Asante-Poku , Edwin Ampadu , Janet Fyfe , Kwadwo Koram , Collins Ahorlu , Gerd Pluschke2,3* 1 Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana, 2 Molecular Immunology, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland, 3 University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland, 4 National Buruli Ulcer Control Programme, Disease Control Unit - GHS, Accra, Ghana, 5 Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory, North Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Abstract Background: Previous analyses of sera from a limited number of Ghanaian Buruli ulcer (BU) patients, their household contacts, individuals living in BU non-endemic regions as well as European controls have indicated that antibody responses to the M. ulcerans 18 kDa small heat shock protein (shsp) reflect exposure to this pathogen. Here, we have investigated to what extent inhabitants of regions in Ghana regarded as non-endemic for BU develop anti-18 kDa shsp antibody titers. Methodology/Principal Findings: For this purpose we determined anti-18 kDa shsp IgG titers in sera collected from healthy inhabitants of the BU endemic Densu River Valley and the Volta Region, which was so far regarded as BU non-endemic. Significantly more sera from the Densu River Valley contained anti-18 kDa shsp IgG (32% versus 12%, respectively). However, s