Banović Pavle, Díaz-Sánchez Adrian Alberto, Mijatović Dragana, Vujin Dragana, Horváth Zsolt, Vranješ Nenad, Budakov-Obradović Zorana, Bujandrić Nevenka, Grujić Jasmina, Ghafar Abdul, Jabbar Abdul, Simin Verica, Obregón Dasiel, Cabezas-Cruz Alejandro
Ambulance for Lyme Borreliosis and Other Tick-Borne Diseases, Department of Prevention of Rabies and Other Infectious Diseases, Pasteur Institute Novi Sad, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia.
Department of Microbiology with Parasitology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine in Novi Sad, University of Novi Sad, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia.
Pathogens. 2021 Mar 28;10(4):399. doi: 10.3390/pathogens10040399.
Lyme borreliosis (LB) is the most common tick-borne disease in Serbia and other European countries. Rabies is a fatal zoonosis distributed worldwide and is caused by the rabies virus. Professionals at risk of rabies-including veterinarians, hunters, communal service workers, and forestry workers-overlap with some professions at a higher risk of exposure to tick bites and tick-borne pathogen infections. We hypothesized that individuals identified by the public health system as at risk of rabies virus infection, and consequently vaccinated against rabies virus, also share a higher likelihood of exposure. To test our hypothesis, a case-control study was carried out during 2019 in Serbia to determine the seroprevalence of anti- antibodies in two case groups (individuals at risk and vaccinated against rabies virus) and a control group (individuals without risk of rabies). Individuals vaccinated against rabies following either "pre-exposure protocol" (PrEP, = 58) or "post-exposure protocol" (PEP, = 42) were considered as rabies risk groups and healthy blood donors ( = 30) as the control group. The results showed higher seroprevalence in PrEP (17.2%; 10/58) and PEP (19.0%; 8/42) groups compared with the control group (6.67%; 2/30). Furthermore, odds ratio (OR) analysis showed that risk of rabies (in either the PrEP (OR = 2.91) or PEP (OR = 3.29) groups) is associated with increased odds of being seropositive to . However, the difference in seroprevalence between groups was not statistically significant (Chi-square (χ²) test > 0.05). The shared odds of LB and rabies exposure found in this study suggest that, in countries where both diseases occur, the common citizen can be at risk of both diseases when in a risky habitat. These findings are important to guide physicians in targeting high-risk groups, and diagnose LB, and to guide decision-makers in targeting control and prevention measures for both infections in risk areas.
莱姆病（LB）是塞尔维亚和其他欧洲国家最常见的蜱传疾病。狂犬病是一种致命的人畜共患病，在全球范围内传播，由狂犬病毒引起。有感染狂犬病风险的专业人员——包括兽医、猎人、公共服务工作者和林业工人——与一些接触蜱叮咬和蜱传病原体感染风险较高的职业存在重叠。我们假设，被公共卫生系统认定有感染狂犬病毒风险并因此接种了狂犬病毒疫苗的个体，也有更高的暴露可能性。为了验证我们的假设，2019年在塞尔维亚开展了一项病例对照研究，以确定两个病例组（有感染风险并接种了狂犬病毒疫苗的个体）和一个对照组（无狂犬病感染风险的个体）中抗[具体抗体名称未给出]抗体的血清阳性率。按照“暴露前预防方案”（PrEP，n = 58）或“暴露后预防方案”（PEP，n = 42）接种狂犬病疫苗的个体被视为狂犬病风险组，健康献血者（n = 30）作为对照组。结果显示，PrEP组（17.2%；10/58）和PEP组（19.0%；8/42）的血清阳性率高于对照组（6.67%；2/30）。此外，比值比（OR）分析表明，狂犬病风险（PrEP组（OR = 2.91）或PEP组（OR = 3.29））与抗[具体抗体名称未给出]血清阳性几率增加相关。然而，各组之间的血清阳性率差异无统计学意义（卡方（χ²）检验P>0.05）。本研究中发现的莱姆病和狂犬病暴露的共同几率表明，在两种疾病都存在的国家，普通公民身处危险栖息地时可能面临两种疾病的风险。这些发现对于指导医生确定高危人群、诊断莱姆病以及指导决策者制定风险地区两种感染的控制和预防措施具有重要意义。
