To examine evidence of positive antibodies against immunogenic proteins of Anaplasma phagocytophilum in patients with other tick-borne infections and to diagnose possible co-infections, 412 serum specimens were tested by immunoblotting using three specific Anaplasma antigens: surface proteins p44 and Asp62 and outer membrane protein A (OmpA). In total, 284 serum samples from children with Lyme borreliosis and 12 serum samples from children with tick-borne encephalitis were tested. Sera from patients with viral aseptic meningitis (n = 47) and from blood donors (n = 69) were used as controls. Among all serum specimens from patients with tick-borne infections submitted for this study, six samples (2·0%) showed positive IgM reactions and seven samples (2·4%) were IgG positive for A. phagocytophilum by immunoblot. Borderline reactivity was found in 30 samples (10·14%) for IgM and 36 samples (12·2%) for IgG. The difference between patients and blood donors was statistically significant for IgM (P = 0·006) and for IgG (P = 0·0007) antibodies. A statistically significant result was obtained for IgG (P = 0·02) but not for IgM between patients and children with aseptic meningitis. Immunoblot using three specific antigens provides novel information about the positivity of antibodies to A. phagocytophilum in children with other tick-borne infections. Taking into account clinical and laboratory findings of children despite antibody positivity, no case of human granulocytic anaplasmosis was demonstrated.

• Klíčová slova
• Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Lyme borreliosis, human granulocytic anaplasmosis, major surface proteins, outer membrane protein A, tick-borne encephalitis,
• MeSH
• Anaplasma phagocytophilum imunologie   MeSH
• anaplasmóza diagnóza   imunologie   mikrobiologie   MeSH
• bakteriální proteiny imunologie   MeSH
• dítě MeSH
• klíšťová encefalitida imunologie   mikrobiologie   MeSH
• koinfekce diagnóza   imunologie   mikrobiologie   MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• lymeská nemoc imunologie   mikrobiologie   MeSH
• membránové proteiny imunologie   MeSH
• mladiství MeSH
• předškolní dítě MeSH
• proteiny vnější bakteriální membrány imunologie   MeSH
• protilátky bakteriální krev   MeSH
• western blotting MeSH
• Check Tag
• dítě MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mladiství MeSH
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• předškolní dítě MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Česká republika MeSH
• Názvy látek
• bakteriální proteiny MeSH
• membránové proteiny MeSH
• proteiny vnější bakteriální membrány MeSH
• protilátky bakteriální MeSH

Tick-borne diseases represent major public and animal health issues worldwide. Ixodes ricinus, primarily associated with deciduous and mixed forests, is the principal vector of causative agents of viral, bacterial, and protozoan zoonotic diseases in Europe. Recently, abundant tick populations have been observed in European urban green areas, which are of public health relevance due to the exposure of humans and domesticated animals to potentially infected ticks. In urban habitats, small and medium-sized mammals, birds, companion animals (dogs and cats), and larger mammals (roe deer and wild boar) play a role in maintenance of tick populations and as reservoirs of tick-borne pathogens. Presence of ticks infected with tick-borne encephalitis virus and high prevalence of ticks infected with Borrelia burgdorferi s.l., causing Lyme borreliosis, have been reported from urbanized areas in Europe. Emerging pathogens, including bacteria of the order Rickettsiales (Anaplasma phagocytophilum, "Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis," Rickettsia helvetica, and R. monacensis), Borrelia miyamotoi, and protozoans (Babesia divergens, B. venatorum, and B. microti) have also been detected in urban tick populations. Understanding the ecology of ticks and their associations with hosts in a European urbanized environment is crucial to quantify parameters necessary for risk pre-assessment and identification of public health strategies for control and prevention of tick-borne diseases.

• Klíčová slova
• Europe, Ixodes ricinus, tick-borne pathogens, ticks, urban habitats,
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• přehledy MeSH

During the period 2000-2003, patients hospitalized for suspected tick-borne encephalitis in the Czech Republic were screened for possible A. phagocytophilum co-infection. Blood samples taken at admission were tested for the presence of A. phagocytophilum DNA by nested PCR using a modified target sequence as an internal control, and sera were tested for the presence of antibodies by indirect immunofluorescence and western blotting methods using cell-culture-derived antigens. To verify the assay specificity, a set of 45 sera of Patagonian residents served as a non-tick-exposed control group, and a set of 14 B. henselae-positive sera was used to check cross-reactivity. Of 809 patients hospitalized, 80 (9.9%) showed IgG antibodies reactive to A. phagocytophilum at > or =80 (reciprocal dilution factor) and 50 (6.2%) at > or =160; two (0.2%) patients showed elevated IgM titers of 40. No full blood obtained from 162 patients tested positive in PCR when false negativity was excluded. During hospitalization, the diagnosis of tick-borne encephalitis was confirmed in 536 patients, 57 (10.6%) of whom had anti-A. phagocytophilum IgG antibodies reactive at > or =80 and 41 (7.6%) at > or =160, which did not differ significantly from the whole set (P = 0.66/0.30), the maximum IgG titer registered was 5120, and no IgM titer reached the 40 cut-off. Available paired sera from 189 tick-borne encephalitis patients showed no significant shifts, but one case of slight seroconversion (IgG shift from < 80 to 320) was detected in one of the non-tick-borne encephalitis patients. The sex of the patient showed no significance for the prevalence of A. phagocytophilum antibodies; however, the seropositive patients were older on average than those who were seronegative (43.5 +/- 15.9 vs. 37.9 +/- 18.3 years, P = 0.05). Clinical manifestation of the disease did not differ noticeably between patients with and without A. phagocytophilumreactive antibodies, except for fever duration, which was significantly longer in patients with titers > or =1280. Overall, A. phagocytophilum co-infection did not seem to be a frequent and/or significant complication of tick-borne encephalitis acquired in the Czech Republic.

• MeSH
• Anaplasma phagocytophilum * genetika   MeSH
• dítě MeSH
• DNA bakterií analýza   MeSH
• dospělí MeSH
• ehrlichióza komplikace   diagnóza   epidemiologie   imunologie   MeSH
• fluorescenční protilátková technika nepřímá MeSH
• imunoglobulin G krev   imunologie   MeSH
• klíšťová encefalitida komplikace   diagnóza   epidemiologie   imunologie   MeSH
• lidé středního věku MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mladiství MeSH
• polymerázová řetězová reakce MeSH
• předškolní dítě MeSH
• protilátky bakteriální krev   imunologie   MeSH
• senioři MeSH
• studie případů a kontrol MeSH
• věkové faktory MeSH
• western blotting MeSH
• zkřížené reakce MeSH
• Check Tag
• dítě MeSH
• dospělí MeSH
• lidé středního věku MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mladiství MeSH
• předškolní dítě MeSH
• senioři MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• srovnávací studie MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Česká republika epidemiologie   MeSH
• Názvy látek
• DNA bakterií MeSH
• imunoglobulin G MeSH
• protilátky bakteriální MeSH