title: A Sero-epidemiological Approach to Explore Transmission of Mycobacterium ulcerans.
abstract: The debilitating skin disease Buruli ulcer (BU) is caused by infection with Mycobacterium ulcerans. While various hypotheses on potential reservoirs and vectors of M. ulcerans exist, the mode of transmission has remained unclear. Epidemiological studies have indicated that children below the age of four are less exposed to the pathogen and at lower risk of developing BU than older children. In the present study we compared the age at which children begin to develop antibody responses against M. ulcerans with the age pattern of responses to other pathogens transmitted by various mechanisms. A total of 1,352 sera from individuals living in the BU endemic Offin river valley of Ghana were included in the study. While first serological responses to the mosquito transmitted malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum and to soil transmitted Strongyloides helminths emerged around the age of one and two years, sero-conversion for M. ulcerans and for the water transmitted trematode Schistosoma mansoni occurred at around four and five years, respectively. Our data suggest that exposure to M. ulcerans intensifies strongly at the age when children start to have more intense contact with the environment, outside the small movement range of young children. Further results from our serological investigations in the Offin river valley also indicate ongoing transmission of Treponema pallidum, the causative agent of yaws.
authors.affiliation: Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Molecular Immunology, Basel, Switzerland.|University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.|Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana.
authors.forename: Kobina Assan
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Ampah
authors.affiliation: Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Molecular Immunology, Basel, Switzerland.|University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Beatrice
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Nickel
authors.affiliation: Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana.
authors.forename: Prince
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Asare
authors.affiliation: Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Molecular Immunology, Basel, Switzerland.|University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Amanda
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ross
authors.affiliation: Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: De-Graft
authors.affiliation: Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Molecular Immunology, Basel, Switzerland.|University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kerber
authors.affiliation: LIONEX Diagnostics & Therapeutics, Braunschweig, Germany.
authors.forename: Ralf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Spallek
authors.affiliation: LIONEX Diagnostics & Therapeutics, Braunschweig, Germany.
authors.forename: Mahavir
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.affiliation: Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Molecular Immunology, Basel, Switzerland.|University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Gerd
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pluschke
authors.affiliation: Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana.
authors.forename: Dorothy
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yeboah-Manu
authors.affiliation: Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Molecular Immunology, Basel, Switzerland.|University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Katharina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Röltgen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology; D054312:Buruli Ulcer / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology / Q000635:transmission*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005869:Ghana / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D056724:Immunity, Humoral; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019911:Mycobacterium ulcerans / Q000276:immunology / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial
references.citation: PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2012 Jan;6(1):e1460
references.pmid: 22253937
references.citation: Lancet Glob Health. 2015 Jun;3(6):e324-31
references.pmid: 26001576
references.citation: Science. 1999 Feb 5;283(5403):854-7
references.pmid: 9933171
references.citation: PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2010;4(7):e751
references.pmid: 20652033
references.citation: N Engl J Med. 2015 Feb 19;372(8):703-10
references.pmid: 25693010
references.citation: PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2008;2(3):e178
references.pmid: 18365032
references.citation: Lancet. 2013 Mar 2;381(9868):763-73
references.pmid: 23415015
references.citation: Lancet. 1986 Feb 8;1(8476):307-10
references.pmid: 2868172
references.citation: Clin Microbiol Rev. 1995 Jan;8(1):1-21
references.pmid: 7704889
references.citation: Lancet. 2006 Sep 23;368(9541):1106-18
references.pmid: 16997665
references.citation: Parasitol Res. 2007 Oct;101(5):1209-14
references.pmid: 17610082
references.citation: Emerg Infect Dis. 2009 Apr;15(4):614-5
references.pmid: 19331750
references.citation: PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2011 Sep;5(9):e1305
references.pmid: 21949891
references.citation: Trop Med Int Health. 2004 Dec;9(12):1297-304
references.pmid: 15598261
references.citation: PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2014 May;8(5):e2904
references.pmid: 24853088
references.citation: PLoS One. 2014;9(3):e91144
references.pmid: 24632992
references.citation: Clin Infect Dis. 2010 Sep 15;51(6):700-8
references.pmid: 20687840
references.citation: J Clin Microbiol. 2010 Dec;48(12):4615-9
references.pmid: 20881177
references.citation: PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2010;4(12):e911
references.pmid: 21179505
references.citation: Emerg Infect Dis. 2002 Feb;8(2):167-70
references.pmid: 11897068
references.citation: PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2013;7(6):e2252
references.pmid: 23785529
references.citation: J Biol Chem. 2004 Mar 5;279(10):9490-6
references.pmid: 14676185
references.citation: Parasitol Res. 2015 Jul;114(7):2543-51
references.pmid: 25877389
references.citation: PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2008;2(10):e325
references.pmid: 18941518
references.citation: Clin Vaccine Immunol. 2006 Dec;13(12):1314-21
references.pmid: 17021247
references.citation: Malar J. 2015;14:416
references.pmid: 26492873
references.citation: Parasitol Today. 1998 Oct;14(10):428-34
references.pmid: 17040835
references.citation: PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2010;4(11):e872
references.pmid: 21072233
references.citation: Lancet Glob Health. 2014 Nov;2(11):e629
references.pmid: 25442683
references.citation: PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2014 Apr;8(4):e2770
references.pmid: 24722416
references.citation: Lancet Glob Health. 2014 Jul;2(7):e415-21
references.pmid: 25103395
references.citation: PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2015 Feb;9(2):e0003491
references.pmid: 25668740
references.citation: Mol Microbiol. 2010 Dec;78(5):1216-31
references.pmid: 21091506
references.citation: PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2008;2(1):e136
references.pmid: 18235851
references.citation: PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2015 Jan;9(1):e0003496
references.pmid: 25632942
references.citation: Appl Environ Microbiol. 2014 Feb;80(3):1197-209
references.pmid: 24296504
references.citation: Acta Trop. 2015 Jan;141(Pt B):310-4
references.pmid: 25116398
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2015 Aug 11;112(32):E4438-47
references.pmid: 26216993