Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

First Insight into the Incidence of Coxiella burnetii Infection among Veterinary Medicine Students from Bulgaria

Petia Genova-Kalou
,
Yordan Hodzhev
* ,
Ilia Tsachev
ORCID logo ,
Roman Popovich
,
Stefan Panaiotov
,
Veselin Dobrinov
,
Stefka Krumova
,
Betina Boneva-Marutsova
ORCID logo ,
Borislava Chakarova
,
Keytlin Todorova
,
Konstantin Simeonov
,
Magdalena Baymakova
* ORCID logo ,
Pierre-Edouard Fournier
Version 1 : Received: 21 June 2024 / Approved: 24 June 2024 / Online: 24 June 2024 (14:58:50 CEST)

How to cite: Genova-Kalou, P.; Hodzhev, Y.; Tsachev, I.; Popovich, R.; Panaiotov, S.; Dobrinov, V.; Krumova, S.; Boneva-Marutsova, B.; Chakarova, B.; Todorova, K.; Simeonov, K.; Baymakova, M.; Fournier, P.-E. First Insight into the Incidence of Coxiella burnetii Infection among Veterinary Medicine Students from Bulgaria. Preprints 2024, 2024061706. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202406.1706.v1 Genova-Kalou, P.; Hodzhev, Y.; Tsachev, I.; Popovich, R.; Panaiotov, S.; Dobrinov, V.; Krumova, S.; Boneva-Marutsova, B.; Chakarova, B.; Todorova, K.; Simeonov, K.; Baymakova, M.; Fournier, P.-E. First Insight into the Incidence of Coxiella burnetii Infection among Veterinary Medicine Students from Bulgaria. Preprints 2024, 2024061706. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202406.1706.v1

Abstract

This study is aimed to assess the prevalence of Coxiella burnetii infection among veterinary medicine students from two Bulgarian Universities, located in Sofia and Stara Zagora. A total of 185 veterinary students blood samples were collected and tested for the detection of C. burnetii phase II antibodies and presence of DNA using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and end-point PCR test, respectively. Out of all samples, 29.7% were positive for at least one C. burnetii phase II antibody marker or by PCR test. Veterinary students from Stara Zagora showed significantly seropositive status of Q fever (33.6%), then those who studied in Sofia (23%). The evidence for recent exposition with detection of anti-C. burnetii IgM (+) antibodies had 14.6%. Seroprevalence among students in Stara Zagora was higher (15.3%). Anti-C. burnetii phase II IgG antibodies were detected in 21.6% examined samples. Our study revealed a higher seropositivity among male students (32.8%) as compared to the female ones (16.0%). End-point PCR assay detected as positive 5.9% blood samples. The relative risk (RR) of Q fever exposure for male students was 40.7%, whereas for female (24.6%). Findings from this study indicated that the C. burnetii infection is widely distributed amongst veterinary students from Bulgaria. The study emphasizes the need for improved safety protocols and infection control measures in veterinary training programs.

Keywords

Bulgaria; Coxiella burnetii; Q fever; students; veterinary medicine

Subject

Biology and Life Sciences, Immunology and Microbiology

Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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