Smith P F, Benach J L, White D J, Stroup D F, Morse D L
Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta, Georgia 30333.
Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1988;539:289-301. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1988.tb31863.x.
Although Lyme disease (LD) is the most common tick-borne disease in the United States, little is known about the frequency of and risk factors for infection with Borrelia burgdorferi in occupational groups. In 1986, we recruited primarily outdoor workers from six employee groups in southeastern New York where LD is endemic. Of 414 participants who completed questionnaires and had blood samples tested for antibodies against B. burgdorferi by ELISA and Western immunoblot, 27 (6.5%) were seropositive, but only 14 of the 27 reported previous symptoms of LD. Persons who spent more than 30 hours per week outdoors during leisure were 2.5 times more likely to be seropositive than those who did not (p = .02). Those with a history of outdoor employment were twice as likely to be seropositive as those without such a history, although this finding was not statistically significant (p = .70). However, the seroprevalence rate for the employees was 5.9 times higher than the rate for a comparison group of anonymous blood donors from the same region of New York (p less than .001). These results suggest that there was a relatively high rate of seropositivity for the employee groups and that infection was frequently asymptomatic and associated with outdoor exposure.
尽管莱姆病（LD）是美国最常见的蜱传疾病，但对于职业群体中感染伯氏疏螺旋体的频率和危险因素却知之甚少。1986年，我们主要从纽约东南部六个员工群体中招募户外工作者，该地区为莱姆病流行区。在414名完成问卷调查并采集血样，通过酶联免疫吸附测定（ELISA）和蛋白质印迹法检测抗伯氏疏螺旋体抗体的参与者中，27人（6.5%）血清呈阳性，但这27人中只有14人报告有过莱姆病症状。每周休闲时间在户外度过超过30小时的人血清呈阳性的可能性是未在户外度过这么长时间的人的2.5倍（p = 0.02）。有户外工作史的人血清呈阳性的可能性是没有户外工作史的人的两倍，尽管这一发现无统计学意义（p = 0.70）。然而，这些员工的血清阳性率比来自纽约同一地区的匿名献血者对照组高5.9倍（p < 0.001）。这些结果表明，员工群体的血清阳性率相对较高，而且感染通常无症状，并与户外暴露有关。
