Sharma Sameer, Vijayachari Paluru, Sugunan Attayoor P, Natarajaseenivasan Kalimuthusamy, Sehgal Subhash C
Regional Medical Research Centre (Indian Council of Medical Research), WHO Collaborating Centre for Diagnosis, Reference, Research and Training in Leptospirosis, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India.
Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2006 Feb;74(2):278-83.
Leptospirosis is a severe spirochetal zoonosis in the world. It is considered an occupational disease of persons engaged in agriculture, sewage works, forestry, and animal slaughtering. A study was conducted with an objective of assessing the seroprevalence of leptospirosis among the high-risk groups of Andaman Islands. A total of 611 sera samples from different high-risk populations were collected and tested by microscopic agglutination test (MAT). Genetic characterization of the isolate was done by randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) fingerprinting, and serological characterization was done using monoclonal antibody technique. Antibodies to leptospires were detected in 322 samples giving an overall seroprevalence of 52.7%. The seroprevalence was highest among agriculture workers (62.5%) followed by sewage workers (39.4%), animal handlers (37.5%), forest workers (27.3%), and butchers (30.0%). Seroprevalence among control population was 14.7%, which was comparatively less than that of the high-risk population groups. Subject sera were most commonly reacted with organisms of the serogroup Grippotyphosa followed by Australis, and the pattern was similar in control group. Four leptospires were isolated from agriculture workers who were admitted to the public health center (PHC) with complaints of fever and body ache. Human isolates were compared with two rodent (Rattus norvegicus) isolates from the same area of agriculture workers to get initial information about the transmission cycle of leptospirosis in the study community. Randomly amplified polymorphic DNA fingerprinting pattern of the strains recovered from the rodents and human patients were identified as belonged to genomo-species Leptospira interrogans. The antigenic characterization of the strains recovered from them belonged to serovar Valbuzzi of serogroup Grippotyphosa. The study showed that people engaged in high-risk activities such as agriculture, sewage cleaning, animal handling, animal slaughtering, and forestry are frequently exposed to leptospirosis, and hence control strategies targeting these populations could be more effective.
钩端螺旋体病是一种严重的世界范围内的螺旋体人畜共患病。它被认为是从事农业、污水处理、林业和动物屠宰人员的职业病。开展了一项研究，目的是评估安达曼群岛高危人群中钩端螺旋体病的血清流行率。共收集了来自不同高危人群的611份血清样本，并通过显微镜凝集试验（MAT）进行检测。分离株的基因特征通过随机扩增多态性DNA（RAPD）指纹图谱进行分析，血清学特征则采用单克隆抗体技术进行分析。在322份样本中检测到钩端螺旋体抗体，总体血清流行率为52.7%。血清流行率在农业工人中最高（62.5%），其次是污水处理工人（39.4%）、动物饲养员（37.5%）、林业工人（27.3%）和屠夫（30.0%）。对照人群的血清流行率为14.7%，相对低于高危人群组。受试者血清最常与波摩那群的菌株发生反应，其次是澳洲群，对照组的反应模式相似。从因发热和身体疼痛入住公共卫生中心（PHC）的农业工人中分离出4株钩端螺旋体。将人类分离株与来自同一农业工人区域的两株啮齿动物（褐家鼠）分离株进行比较，以获取关于研究社区中钩端螺旋体病传播周期的初步信息。从啮齿动物和人类患者中分离出的菌株的随机扩增多态性DNA指纹图谱模式被鉴定为属于问号钩端螺旋体基因组种。从它们中分离出的菌株的抗原特征属于波摩那群的瓦尔布兹血清型。该研究表明，从事农业、污水清理、动物处理、动物屠宰和林业等高风险活动的人群经常接触钩端螺旋体病，因此针对这些人群的控制策略可能更有效。
