Khor Chee-Sieng, Hassan Habibi, Mohd-Rahim Nurul-Farhana, Chandren Josephine Rebecca, Nore Siti-Sarah, Johari Jefree, Loong Shih-Keng, Abd-Jamil Juraina, Khoo Jing-Jing, Lee Hai-Yen, Pike Brian L, Li-Ping Wong, Lim Yvonne Ai-Lian, AbuBakar Sazaly
Tropical Infectious Diseases Research and Education Centre (TIDREC), University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Department of Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
J Infect Dev Ctries. 2019 May 31;13(5):449-454. doi: 10.3855/jidc.11001.
Lyme disease has been well-described in the North America and European countries. However, information is still very limited in the developing countries including Malaysia. The Orang Asli (OA), the indigenous people of Peninsular Malaysia reside mostly in the forest and forest fringe areas abundant with the vector for Lyme disease. Here, we described the seroprevalence of Borellia burgdorferi (B. burgdorferi) among the OA and demographic variables that could be associated with seroprevalence.
A total of 16 OA villages distributed across 8 states in Peninsular Malaysia participated in this study. Sera obtained from 904 OA volunteers were screened for anti-B. burgdorferi IgG antibodies. ELISA results obtained and demographic information collected were analysed to identify possible variables associated with seroprevalence.
A total of 73 (8.1%) OA tested positive for anti-B. burgdorferi IgG antibodies. Among all the variables examined, village of residence (p = 0.045) was the only significant predictor for seropositivity. High (> 10.0%) prevalence was associated with three OA villages. Those living in one particular village were 1.65 times more likely to be seropositive as compared to other OA villages. Age, gender, marital status, household size, level of education, monthly household income and occupation were not significant predictors for seropositivity.
Results of the present study support earlier findings that B. burgdorferi infection among Malaysians is currently under-recognized. Further studies will be needed at these locations to confirm the presence of Lyme disease among these populations.
莱姆病在北美和欧洲国家已有详尽描述。然而，在包括马来西亚在内的发展中国家，相关信息仍然非常有限。马来西亚半岛的原住民奥朗阿斯利人（OA）大多居住在森林及森林边缘地区，这些地方有大量莱姆病传播媒介。在此，我们描述了奥朗阿斯利人中伯氏疏螺旋体（B. burgdorferi）的血清阳性率以及可能与血清阳性率相关的人口统计学变量。
马来西亚半岛8个州分布的16个奥朗阿斯利人村庄参与了本研究。对904名奥朗阿斯利人志愿者的血清进行抗B. burgdorferi IgG抗体筛查。对获得的酶联免疫吸附测定（ELISA）结果和收集的人口统计学信息进行分析，以确定与血清阳性率相关的可能变量。
共有73名（8.1%）奥朗阿斯利人抗B. burgdorferi IgG抗体检测呈阳性。在所有检测的变量中，居住村庄（p = 0.045）是血清阳性的唯一显著预测因素。三个奥朗阿斯利人村庄的患病率较高（> 10.0%）。与其他奥朗阿斯利人村庄相比，居住在某一特定村庄的人血清呈阳性的可能性高1.65倍。年龄、性别、婚姻状况、家庭规模、教育程度、家庭月收入和职业不是血清阳性的显著预测因素。
本研究结果支持了早期的研究发现，即马来西亚人中的B. burgdorferi感染目前未得到充分认识。需要在这些地点进行进一步研究，以确认这些人群中莱姆病的存在。
