Asymptomatic Leishmania infantum infections in humans living in endemic and non-endemic areas of Croatia, 2007 to 2009

K Šiško-Kraljević; A Jerončić; B Mohar; V Punda-Polić

doi:10.2807/1560-7917.ES2013.18.28.20533

Surveillance and outbreak reports Open Access

Like 0

Download

Asymptomatic Leishmania infantum infections in humans living in endemic and non-endemic areas of Croatia, 2007 to 2009
K Šiško-Kraljević^1,2,3 , A Jerončić^3,4 , B Mohar¹ , V Punda-Polić^1,5
View Affiliations Hide Affiliations

Affiliations: ¹ Department of Medical Microbiology, Split University School of Medicine, Split, Croatia ² Department of Microbiology, Public Health Institute of Split and Dalmatia County, Split, Croatia ³ These authors contributed equally to this work and share first authorship ⁴ Department for Research in Biomedicine and Health, Split University School of Medicine, Split, Croatia ⁵ Department of Clinical Microbiology, Split University Hospital, Split, Croatia

Correspondence:
K Šiško-Kraljević
katarina.sisko.kraljevic mefst.hr
View Citation Hide Citation

Citation style for this article: Šiško-Kraljević K, Jerončić A, Mohar B, Punda-Polić V. Asymptomatic Leishmania infantum infections in humans living in endemic and non-endemic areas of Croatia, 2007 to 2009. Euro Surveill. 2013;18(29):pii=20533. https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES2013.18.28.20533 Received: 23 Aug 2012

Abstract

The prevalence of asymptomatic leishmaniasis in the general population of Croatia has not been studied to date. To assess the prevalence of Leishmania infantum specific IgG antibodies among immunocompetent residents of Croatia, sera from 2,035 persons (eastern coast of Adriatic Sea, n=1,186; Adriatic islands, n=653; mainland, n=196), were tested by an enzyme immunoassay. A total of 231 (11.4%) persons had anti-Leishmania antibodies. Multivariate analysis revealed that seropositivity was associated with geographic location and age. Residents of coastal areas and islands were significantly more seropositive than mainland residents (odds ratios (OR) 20.37 to 28.51). Moderate to high anti-Leishmania seroprevalence was found throughout the eastern Adriatic coast and islands (4.0% to 22.2%) including the sites previously considered non-endemic. A highly endemic focus was identified in central coastal Dalmatia (seroprevalence 22.2%; OR: 1.72; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.33-2.22). Regarding age, children aged 0-9 years were the most vulnerable group for asymptomatic Leishmania infection (OR: 2.19; 95% CI: 1.16-4.14).