Aix Marseille Univ, IRD, AP-HM, SSA, VITROME, Marseille, France.
IHU-Méditerranée Infection, Marseille, France.
Parasit Vectors. 2020 Apr 7;13(1):177. doi: 10.1186/s13071-020-04036-y.
Humans are parasitized by three types of lice: body, head and pubic lice. As their common names imply, each type colonizes a specific region of the body. The body louse is the only recognized disease vector. However, an increasing awareness of head lice as a vector has emerged recently whereas the status of pubic lice as a vector is not known since it has received little attention.
Here, we assessed the occurrence of bacterial pathogens in 107 body lice, 33 head lice and 63 pubic lice from Marseille and Bobigny (France) using molecular methods.
Results show that all body lice samples belonged to the cytb Clade A whereas head lice samples belonged to Clades A and B. DNA of Bartonella quintana was detected in 7.5% of body lice samples and, for the first time to our knowledge, in 3.1% of pubic lice samples. Coxiella burnetii, which is not usually associated with transmission by louse, was detected in 3.7% of body lice samples and 3% of head lice samples. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of C. burnetii in Pediculus lice infesting humans in France. Acinetobacter DNA was detected in 21.5% of body lice samples, 6% of head lice samples and 9.5% of pubic lice samples. Five species were identified with A. baumannii being the most prevalent.
Our study is the first to report the presence of B. quintana in pubic lice. This is also the first report of the presence of DNA of C. burnetii in body lice and head lice in France. Further efforts on the vectorial role of human lice are needed, most importantly the role of pubic lice as a disease vector should be further investigated.
人类被三种虱子寄生：体虱、头虱和阴虱。顾名思义，每种虱子都栖息在身体的特定部位。体虱是唯一公认的疾病传播媒介。然而，最近人们越来越意识到头虱也是一种媒介，而阴虱作为媒介的地位尚不清楚，因为它很少受到关注。
在这里，我们使用分子方法评估了来自马赛和博比尼（法国）的 107 个体虱、33 个头虱和 63 根阴虱中的细菌病原体的发生情况。
结果表明，所有体虱样本都属于 cytb Clade A，而头虱样本则属于 Clades A 和 B。在 7.5%的体虱样本和我们首次发现的 3.1%的阴虱样本中检测到了巴尔通体。通常与虱子传播无关的考克斯氏体在 3.7%的体虱样本和 3%的头虱样本中被检测到。据我们所知，这是首次在法国感染人体的虱中发现考克斯氏体。在 21.5%的体虱样本、6%的头虱样本和 9.5%的阴虱样本中检测到了不动杆菌 DNA。最常见的是鲍曼不动杆菌。
我们的研究首次报道了在阴虱中存在巴尔通体。这也是首次在法国的体虱和头虱中发现考克斯氏体的 DNA。需要进一步努力研究人类虱子的媒介作用，尤其是阴虱作为疾病媒介的作用应进一步研究。
