engleski

Prevalence of lymphocytic choriomeningitis in the Croatian mainland

Lymphocytic choriomeningitis (LCM) is a rodent- borne zoonosis. The main reservoir of LCMV is house mouse (Mus musculus) that excrete virus in urine and stool. Humans are usually infected by inhalation of contaminated aerosol. In many infected individuals LCMV infection is asymptomatic or presented as a flu-like disease, however some people develop aseptic meningitis. LCMV infection during pregnancy can cause severe congenital malformations. The exact prevalence of infection is unknown. The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of LCMV in patients with neuroinvasive disease and asymptomatic professionally exposed and unexposed persons in Croatia. The study included 90 patients with symptoms of meningitis/encephalitis and 338 asymptomatic persons from continental Croatian counties: 122 exposed persons (forest workers, hunters, agricultural workers/persons with rodent exposure), 115 persons from general population and 101 pregnant women tested during 2017. Cerebrospinal fluid and urine samples were tested for LCMV RNA using RT-PCR. Serum samples were tested for the presence of LCMV IgG antibodies using indirect immunofluorescence assay. IgG positive samples were further tested for the presence of IgM antibodies to rule out recent infection. No one patient with neuroinvasive disease was LCMV positive. LCMV IgG antibodies were detected in 6.8% (23/338) participants: 9.8% (12/122) of exposed persons, 6.1% (7/115) of the general population and 3.9% (4/101) of pregnant women. According to gender, seropositivity was 8.9% (15/169) in males and 4.7% (8/169) in females. Residents of suburban/rural areas were more often seropositive (9.2% ; 15/163) than those from urban areas (4.6% ; 8/175). The results of logistic regression showed that the presence of rodents in the house/yard and cleaning rodents nests are significant risk factors for LCMV infection (OR=2.962, 95%CI=1.019-8.607). Our results showed that LCMV is present in Croatia. Further studies on a large group of participants are needed to determine the prevalence of this neglected viral zoonosis.

lymphocytic choriomeningitis ; prevalence ; Croatia

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