Tularemia on Martha’s Vineyard: Seroprevalence and Occupational Risk
نویسندگان
چکیده
We conducted a serosurvey of landscapers to determine if they were at increased risk for exposure to Francisella tularensis and to determine risk factors for infection. In Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, landscapers (n=132) were tested for anti-F. tularensis antibody and completed a questionnaire. For comparison, serum samples from three groups of nonlandscaper Martha's Vineyard residents (n=103, 99, and 108) were tested. Twelve landscapers (9.1%) were seropositive, compared with one person total from the comparison groups (prevalence ratio 9.0; 95% confidence interval 1.2 to 68.1; p=0.02). Of landscapers who used a power blower, 15% were seropositive, compared to 2% who did not use a power blower (prevalence ratio 9.2; 95% confidence interval 1.2 to 69.0; p=0.02). Seropositive landscapers worked more hours per week mowing and weed-whacking and mowed more lawns per week than their seronegative counterparts. Health-care workers in tularemia-endemic areas should consider tularemia as a diagnosis for landscapers with a febrile illness.
منابع مشابه
Tularemia, lawn mowers, and rabbits' nests.
The recent report by Goethert, Shani, and Telford has demonstrated that strains of Francisella tularensis subsp. tularensis (type A) on the island of Martha’s Vineyard are of multiple genotypes (3). In that paper, the authors stated that the mode of transmission of the two outbreaks (summer 1978 and summer 2000) of pneumonic tularemia (1, 5) from this island remain “undescribed” (3). I propose ...
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