engleski

Seroepidemiology of phlebovirus infections in Croatia, 2017-2018

Phleboviruses belong to a large group of arboviruses that are transmitted to humans by sandflies. Infections by these viruses in humans manifest as a febrile disease, so-called “three- day fever” (“Pappataci fever”), while Toscana virus (TOSV) may cause neuroinvasive disease. In Croatia, TOSV, sandfly fever Sicilian (SFSV) and Naples (SFNV) viruses were documented. The aim of this study was to analyze the seroprevalence of phleboviruses in residents of the continental and coastal Croatian areas. During a two-year period (January 2017-December 2018), a total of 214 participants aged 18-89 years were tested for phlebovirus antibodies. The study group included 113/52.8% men and 101/47.2% women. Depending on the geographic area, 92/43.0% participants were from the coastal and 122/57.0% from the continental Croatian regions. All participants were asymptomatic at the time of testing and did not report recent febrile disease. IgG antibodies to SFSV, SFNV, sandfly fever Cyprus (SFCV) and TOSV were determined using an indirect immunofluorescent assay (IFA ; Sandfly Fever Mosaic, Euroimmun, Lübeck, Germany). Antibodies to SFSV were found in 5/2.3%) participants, SFNV in 7/3.3%, SFCV in one (0.5%) and TOSV in 22/10.3% participants. There was no significant difference in the phlebovirus seroprevalence according to gender (men 14.2% ; women 13.9%) and age of participants (11.1-19.4%). Statistically significant higher seroprevalence rate (p<0.001) was found between the inhabitants of the coastal areas (25.0%) compared to the inhabitants of continental regions (5.7%). The results of logistic regression showed that living in the coastal area is a significant risk factor for flebovirus seropositivity (OR=5.476 ; 95%CI=2.232- 13.430). Results of this study confirmed the presence of phleboviruses in Croatia. Due to a relatively small number of participants, further researches are needed to confirm these observations and determine the exact seroprevalence in both studied Croatian regions.

phleboviruses ; seroprevalence ; Croatia

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