If I understand this correctly.....even at 3.4%, that would be 10 million people testing seropositive for the Rickettsiae group in the U.S..... at 6%, that would be over 18 million. and don't we have to assume that the majority of those tested were asymptomatic?
(Geez, would it have killed them to run some Bb tests while they were at it?)
I found these numbers to be rather startling..... and I highly suspect that no Lyme tests like this will EVER be run because the results would panic the nation.
Clinical Infectious Diseases 2008;46:000 This article is in the public domain, and no copyright is claimed.
Prevalence of Seropositivity to Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiae and Anaplasma phagocytophilum in a Large, Demographically Diverse US Sample
Paul C. F. Graf,1, a Jean-Paul Chretien,2, a Lady Ung,1 Joel C. Gaydos,2 and Allen L. Richards1
1 Viral and Rickettsial Diseases Department, Naval Medical Research Center, and 2 Department of Defense Global Emerging Infections Surveillance and Response System, Silver Spring, Maryland
Background. Most epidemiologic studies of tick-borne rickettsial diseases in the United States are small and have limited demographic scope, making broader risk assessment difficult.
Methods. We conducted a seroprevalence study of spotted fever group rickettsiae and Anaplasma phagocytophilum, the agent of human granulocytic anaplasmosis. Specimens were selected randomly from the Department of Defense Serum Repository for 10,000 diverse military personnel at various stages in their careers who were serving with active duty status in 1997. Antibody testing included enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for Rickettsia rickettsii and A. phagocytophilum, and Western blot confirmation for A. phagocytophilum. Risk factors were assessed using logistic regression.
Results. Subjects were mostly male and young and were diverse ethnically and geographically. Spotted fever group rickettsiae seropositivity was 6.0% (95% confidence interval, 5.5%-6.4%).
In univariable logistic regression, seroprevalence was significantly higher among older subjects, men (6.5%, compared with 3.3% among women), black individuals (8.7%, compared with 5.6% among white individuals), subjects from states with above-average Rocky Mountain spotted fever incidence, and subjects in ground combat specialties.
Associations remained significant in multivariable analysis for age, sex, black versus white race, home state with high incidence, and ground combat specialty. Among 696 subjects with serum samples obtained within 7 days after entering the military, the rate of seropositivity was 3.4% (95% confidence interval, 2.1%-4.8%). Seroprevalence was nonsignificantly lower in men (3.4%, compared with 3.7% in women ) and in black individuals (3.4%, compared with 4.1% in white individuals).
A. phagocytophilum seropositivity, as determined by by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and Western blot, was 2.6% and 0.11% (95% confidence interval, 0.05%-0.18%), respectively. Western blot seropositivity was not significantly associated with subject characteristics in univariable analysis.
Conclusions. Spotted fever group rickettsiae exposure was common and A. phagocytophilum exposure was rare in a US population with broad demographic diversity.
Received 2 July 2007; accepted 24 August 2007; electronically published 19 November 2007. The opinions or assertions contained herein are the private views of the authors and are not to be construed as official or as reflecting true views of the Departments of the Navy, Army, or Defense. a P.C.F.G. and J.-P.C. contributed equally to this article.
Posted by TerryK (Member # 8552) on :
Wow! I'm amazed that this one saw the light of day!!
Yes, I agree, the numbers are staggering. I don't know much about this infection but since it is a TBI, I think we can assume that a percentage of these people have other TBI's too.
Good find!!
Terry
Posted by hardynaka (Member # 8099) on :
Thanks, Tracy. It is startling!
Selma
Posted by yanivnaced (Member # 13212) on :
I think a good chunk of the earth's population has some type of chronic blood infection, whether some form of spirochete or other bacteria/protozoa. Think of all the mosquitos, fleas, tick-type insects around the world. I think that in most cases, these chronic infections are subacute, with occasional flare ups when immune systems are down.
It's just that maybe 0.01% of the earth's population ever gets tested, and out of that small group, an even smaller group test positive for the few known/recognized pathogens.