Field-friendly anti-PGL-I serosurvey in children to monitor Mycobacterium leprae transmission in Bihar, India.

ABSTRACT:

Background

It has been amply described that levels of IgM antibodies against Mycobacterium leprae (M. leprae) phenolic glycolipid I (PGL-I) correlate strongly with the bacterial load in an infected individual. These findings have generated the concept of using seropositivity for antibodies against M. leprae PGL-I as an indicator of the proportion of the population that has been infected. Although anti-PGL-I IgM levels provide information on whether an individual has ever been infected, their presence cannot discriminate between recent and past infections. Since infection in (young) children by definition indicates recent transmission, we piloted the feasibility of assessment of anti-PGL-I IgM seroprevalence among children in a leprosy endemic area in India as a

SUBMITTER: Pierneef L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10565223 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature