Assuntos
Serviços Médicos de Emergência , Unidades de Terapia Intensiva Pediátrica , Registros de Enfermagem/normas , Transferência de Pacientes/organização & administração , Atitude do Pessoal de Saúde , Continuidade da Assistência ao Paciente/organização & administração , Serviços Médicos de Emergência/organização & administração , Controle de Formulários e Registros , França , Humanos , Unidades de Terapia Intensiva Pediátrica/organização & administração , Relações Interinstitucionais , Avaliação das Necessidades , Pesquisa em Avaliação de Enfermagem , Inquéritos e QuestionáriosRESUMO
In this report we attempt to evaluate the prevalence of antibodies against Rickettsia conorii, R. typhi, Coxiella burnettii, and Ehrlichia chaffeensis in central Tunisia. Five hundred sera from blood donors, collected between March and June 1993, were tested for these 4 antibodies using an indirect immunofluorescence antibody assay (IFA). Nine percent of the sera had antibodies against R. conorii (IgG > 1:32) by IFA, and 8% by Western blotting; with IFA, 3.6% had antibodies to R. typhi, 26% to C. burnetii (> 1:50), and none to E. chaffeensis. Infection rates with R. conorii and R. typhi did not differ significantly between the sexes, but fewer young people had antibodies to R. typhi. A significantly higher prevalence of antibodies to C. burnetii was noted for males with no difference between age classes. No significant difference was detected between urban and rural areas. This study confirmed the endemicity of rickettsioses, and revealed a high seroprevalence of Q fever, in central Tunisia.
Assuntos
Doadores de Sangue , Infecções por Rickettsiaceae/epidemiologia , Rickettsiaceae/isolamento & purificação , Adolescente , Adulto , Antígenos de Bactérias/análise , Western Blotting , Criança , Coxiella burnetii/isolamento & purificação , Ehrlichia chaffeensis/isolamento & purificação , Feminino , Humanos , Imunoglobulina G/análise , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Rickettsia typhi/isolamento & purificação , Saúde da População Rural , Estudos Soroepidemiológicos , Tunísia/epidemiologia , Saúde da População UrbanaRESUMO
Human ehrlichiosis is a recently recognized rickettsial disease. It is caused by Ehrlichia chaffeensis, an intraleucocytic Gram-negative, obligate intracellular bacterium, grouped within the genus Ehrlichiae. Most human cases of ehrlichiosis have been diagnosed in the USA. Two cases have been reported outside of the USA, one in Europe and one in Africa. From 1 January to 30 June 1992, 765 sera from blood donors or other asymptomatic subjects in 8 African countries, including Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Mali, Central African Republic, Angola, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Commores Islands, were tested by indirect immunofluorescence for the presence of E. chaffeensis antibodies. Positive sera were confirmed by Western immunoblotting. Only two of 765 sera tested were positive. One serum obtained from Burkina Faso had an IgG titer of 1:200 and one from Mozambique had an IgG titer of 1:80. Human ehrlichiosis seems to occur infrequently in Africa, although many more sera from additional African countries need to be evaluated.
