Journal article
Seroprevalence of rickettsial infections and Q fever in Bhutan
T Tshokey, J Stenos, DN Durrheim, K Eastwood, C Nguyen, SR Graves
Plos Neglected Tropical Diseases | PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE | Published : 2017
Open access
Abstract
Background: With few studies conducted to date, very little is known about the epidemiology of rickettsioses in Bhutan. Due to two previous outbreaks and increasing clinical cases, scrub typhus is better recognized than other rickettsial infections and Q fever. Methodology: A descriptive cross-sectional serosurvey was conducted from January to March 2015 in eight districts of Bhutan. Participants were 864 healthy individuals from an urban (30%) and a rural (70%) sampling unit in each of the eight districts. Serum samples were tested by microimmunofluorescence assay for rickettsial antibodies at the Australian Rickettsial Reference Laboratory. Results: Of the 864 participants, 345 (39.9%) wer..
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Funding Acknowledgements
The authors received no specific funding for this work. However, the University of Newcastle awarded a PhD scholarship to the senior author and the following pathologists from New South Wales Health Pathology (Australia) provided some financial support towards the research: Drs M. Formby, A. Cotty, B. Young, T. de Malmanche, H. Tran, B. Bhagwandeen and the late Dr B. Murugasu. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.