María Beltrán

Epidemiological characteristics of dogs with Lyme borreliosis in the province of Soria (Spain)

From the point of view of the human disease, dogs are the most important animal reservoir of Lyme borreliosis; therefore, they are used as ‘sentinel animals’. In order to know the epidemiological characteristics of dogs with antibodies against Borrelia burgdorferi, 146 canine sera samples collected during 1993–94 have been studied. The antibody detection was made by an indirect immunofluorescence method and confirmed by a haemagglutination test. Seventeen dogs (11.6%) were seropositive, of which seven were hunting dogs, three were shepherd dogs, five were domestic pets, one was a watchdog and one was a stray dog. Seven dogs had longhair phenotype, 2 medium length type, 4 hard-hair and the other 4 were short-haired. Twelve seropositive dogs were males and five were females. All seropositive dogs were more than 1 year old. The dogs with greater seroprevalence were those that harboured ticks more often than the rest. Spring and summer were the seasons when more ticks were observed. The seroprevalence found in dogs was similar to that previously obtained in humans in this area. This finding gave evidence to an intimate association between human and canine seroprevalence.

Prevalence of antibodies to Rickettsia typhi in an area of the center of Spain.

It was the aim of the present work to evaluate Rickettsia typhi antibody prevalence in ‘Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid’ (CAM), an area in the centre of Spain. A total of 640 serum samples from the general population were tested by an indirect immunofluorescence assay. Specific R. typhi antibodies were found in 44 (6.8%) of the samples. The present survey results demonstrate the occurrence of R. typhi human infections in this area.

Hantavirus infections in Spain: analysis of sera from the general population and from patients with pneumonia, renal disease and hepatitis.

BACKGROUND Hantaviruses are rodent borne viruses in the family Bunyaviridae that cause significant morbidity in large areas of Europe. There are only a few reports available on hantavirus infections from Spain. Although the results of these earlier studies indicated the presence of hantavirus infections, no confirmative or serotype-specific analyses have been performed. OBJECTIVES To investigate whether hantaviruses cause human infection/disease in Spain. STUDY DESIGN Ten thousand, four hundred and eighteen serum samples from the general population and 599 sera from 492 patients with potential hantavirus infections (renal disease, pneumonia or hepatitis) were initially screened by immunofluorescence assay (IFA) using Hantaan, Seoul and Puumala hantavirus antigens. Altogether 193 suspicious samples (165 from healthy people and 28 from patients) were selected for confirmation by quality-assured assays. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS Of the 165 pre-screened serum samples from healthy individuals, only five could be confirmed by IFA for hantavirus-reactive antibodies (using Dobrava, Saaremaa, Hantaan or Puumala virus antigens). In addition, one serum was found weakly positive for hantavirus-reactive IgG by ELISA using recombinant Saaremaa virus (SAAV) nucleocapsid (N) antigen, and subsequently confirmed by immunoblotting. Thus, the results indicated a low (0.06%) total antibody prevalence to hantaviruses in Spain. Of 28 pre-screened serum samples from hospitalized patients, eight reacted as positive or showed border-line reactivities for hantavirus-specific IgM by ELISA using recombinant Saaremaa and Puumala virus N antigens. The IFA/ELISA reactive/border-line samples were subsequently analyzed by a focus reduction neutralization test, which revealed low titers (1:80) against SAAV in two samples from a patient with hepatic disease. The nature of the hantavirus(es) potentially involved remain, however, unknown, since none of the positive samples showed neutralizing titers of the expected range to any of the known European hantaviruses.

Screening of the prevalence of antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi in Madrid province, Spain

It was the aim of the present study to evaluate Borrelia burgdorferi antibody prevalence in the province of Madrid, located in central Spain. A total of 1825 serum samples from the general population were tested by an indirect immunofluorescence assay. Specific B. burgdorferi antibodies were found in 63 (3.45%) of the samples. Statistical differences were found according to sex.

Utilidad de la detección del virus del papiloma humano de alto riesgo mediante Hybrid Capture II® en mujeres con citologías anormales del cuello uterino

Introduccion Los objetivos del estudio son conocer la utilidad que tiene la deteccion del virus del papiloma humano de alto riesgo (VPH-AR) como procedimiento de cribado en mujeres con citologias cervicales anormales y determinar la distribucion de la carga viral segun el grado histologico. Metodos Setenta y cinco mujeres que presentaron una citologia con el diagnostico de atipia de significado incierto (ASCUS), lesion escamosa intraepitelial de bajo grado (L-SIL) o de alto grado (H-SIL), fueron sometidas a colposcopia, estudio histologico y deteccion del VPH-AR utilizando el test Hybrid Capture II®. Resultados En las lesiones citologicas se detecto el VPHAR en el 31,2% de los ASCUS y en el 65,7% de las L-SIL. En el examen histologico se detecto el VPH-AR en el 46,4% de las mujeres sin lesion, en el 69,5% de las L-SIL y en el 75% de las H-SIL. Los valores predictivos negativos (VPN) para H-SIL en las citologias con ASCUS y L-SIL fueron 81,8 y 92,3%, respectivamente. Los porcentajes de infeccion con carga viral alta se incrementaron significativamente a medida que aumentaron los grados de las lesiones histologicas. Conclusiones El test Hybrid Capture II® puede ser un metodo util para el manejo de las mujeres con citologias con ASCUS debido a la baja prevalencia de la infeccion y el elevado VPN para H-SIL. En las mujeres con citologias con L-SIL su utilidad es limitada debido a la elevada prevalencia de la infeccion. La carga viral alta puede favorecer la evolucion de las lesiones preneoplasicas del cuello uterino.

Epidemiological Study of Rickettsial Infections in Patients with Hypertransaminemia in Madrid (Spain)

A retrospective analysis was performed to detect anti-rickettsial antibodies in the serum of patients with hypertransaminemia of unknown etiology, and in that of healthy members of the general population of Madrid (Spain). Among 143 patients 16 (11.2%) were positive for anti-R. conorii IgG antibodies and 7% for R. typhi. PCR analysis was performed in patients with IgM antibodies. Among 143 healthy subjects from the general population, seven (4.9%) were positive for anti-R. conorii IgG antibodies, and 2.8% for R. typhi. These results show that anti-rickettsial antibodies are more commonly detected in patients with hypertransaminemia than in healthy people.

Seroprevalencia de anticuerpos frente al virus Seoul en grupos laborales de riesgo

A seroprevalence study was performed to determine the percentage of people exposed to Seoul virus among biologists and police officers (n = 226), whose work might put them into contact with viral reservoirs. Detection of specific IgG antibodies was performed by indirect immunofluorescence and western-blot. There was one positive result among the biologists (4.54%). This study confirms Seoul virus exposure in one of the employment groups studied.

Evaluación preliminar de la prevalencia de infección tuberculosa en un grupo laboral de riesgo

Objetivo El objetivo de este trabajo fue mejorar el conocimiento de la prevalencia de la infeccion tuberculosa en colectivos cuya actividad profesional podria suponer empiricamente un riesgo elevado de contacto con personas infectadas por Mycobacterium tuberculosis, asi como identificar los factores de riesgo para establecer medidas eficaces de control y prevencion. Con este objetivo se diseno en primer lugar un estudio piloto con trabajadores de un colectivo policial. Material y metodos Se estudio la reactividad frente a la tuberculina en 150 individuos pertenecientes al Cuerpo Nacional de Policia (CNP), y se les realizo una encuesta epidemiologica para identificar los factores de riesgo. Resultados Se detecto una prevalencia del 10,7% y no se encontraron diferencias estadisticamente significativas respecto al sexo, ni a los anos de servicio, pero si respecto al incremento de la edad. Conclusiones Los datos de prevalencia obtenidos y la experiencia conseguida permitiran continuar el trabajo y establecer un programa efectivo de control.