TY - JOUR
T1 - Epidemiological studies on Bartonella quintana infections among homeless people in Tokyo, Japan
AU - Seki, Naomi
AU - Sasaki, Toshinori
AU - Sawabe, Kyoko
AU - Sasaki, Tsuguo
AU - Matsuoka, Mayumi
AU - Arakawa, Yoshichika
AU - Marui, Eiji
AU - Kobayashi, Mutsuo
PY - 2006
Y1 - 2006
N2 - In an epidemiological investigation of trench fever in Japan, we compared the seroprevalence of Bartonella quintana in homeless people and in the general population. In homeless rescue outreach programs held in Tokyo from May 2001 to March 2003, 151 blood samples were taken from non-hospitalized homeless people. The prevalence of IgM and IgG antibodies against B. quintana in these people was compared with that in 200 healthy blood donors using a commercially available indirect fluorescent antibody test. Although IgG titers of > or = 1:128 were found in 57% (86/151) of homeless people and 51% (101/200) of blood donors, high titers of > or = to 1:1,024 were encountered only in homeless people (11%, 16/151). Attempts to isolate B. quintana from the blood of homeless people were unsuccessful, but polymerase chain reaction based detection, using Bartonella genus specific primers, demonstrated the presence of B. quintana DNA in the blood of 10 homeless people. Our data suggest that urban trench fever is endemic among the Japanese homeless population.
AB - In an epidemiological investigation of trench fever in Japan, we compared the seroprevalence of Bartonella quintana in homeless people and in the general population. In homeless rescue outreach programs held in Tokyo from May 2001 to March 2003, 151 blood samples were taken from non-hospitalized homeless people. The prevalence of IgM and IgG antibodies against B. quintana in these people was compared with that in 200 healthy blood donors using a commercially available indirect fluorescent antibody test. Although IgG titers of > or = 1:128 were found in 57% (86/151) of homeless people and 51% (101/200) of blood donors, high titers of > or = to 1:1,024 were encountered only in homeless people (11%, 16/151). Attempts to isolate B. quintana from the blood of homeless people were unsuccessful, but polymerase chain reaction based detection, using Bartonella genus specific primers, demonstrated the presence of B. quintana DNA in the blood of 10 homeless people. Our data suggest that urban trench fever is endemic among the Japanese homeless population.
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U2 - 10.7883/yoken.jjid.2006.31
DO - 10.7883/yoken.jjid.2006.31
M3 - Article
C2 - 16495631
AN - SCOPUS:33644513773
SN - 1344-6304
VL - 59
SP - 31
EP - 35
JO - Japanese journal of infectious diseases
JF - Japanese journal of infectious diseases
IS - 1
ER -