Jpn. J. Infect. Dis., 64 (1), 72-75, 2011
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Short Communication
Serological Evidence of Thailand Virus-Related Hantavirus Infection among Suspected Leptospirosis Patients in Kandy, Sri Lanka
Chandika D. Gamage, Shumpei P. Yasuda1, Sanae Nishio1, Senanayake A. Kularatne2, Kosala Weerakoon2, Jayanthe Rajapakse3, Chinyere Nwafor-Okoli, Romeo B. Lee, Yoshi Obayashi, Kumiko Yoshimatsu1, Jiro Arikawa1, and Hiko Tamashiro*
Department of Global Health and Epidemiology and 1Department of Microbiology, Graduate School of Medicine, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-8638, Japan; and 2Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and 3Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
(Received August 30, 2010. Accepted December 3, 2010)
*Corresponding author: Mailing address: Department of Global Health and Epidemiology, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Kita-15, Nishi-7, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-8638, Japan. Tel: +81-11-706-5051, Fax: +81-11-706-7374, E-mail: tamashiro@med.hokudai.ac.jp
SUMMARY: A cross-sectional study was undertaken to determine the current prevalence of leptospirosis and hantaviral infections, and the socio-demographic characteristics and risk factors of infected patients, in Kandy, Sri Lanka. This report discusses the serological evidence of hantavirus infections among 105 suspected leptospirosis patients, 8 of whom had hantavirus antibodies. Serotyping ELISA showed that these 8 patients had high optical density values for Thailand virus. Most of the sera showed that the focus reduction neutralization test titer against Thailand virus was higher than that against Seoul virus, thereby suggesting that the hantaviral antibodies found in Sri Lanka are different from Seoul virus but closely related to Thailand virus. These findings imply that the hantaviral infection found in Kandy, Sri Lanka appears to be due to a virus similar to Thailand virus. Epidemiological analysis revealed that the association between hantavirus infection and socio-demographic characteristics was not statistically significant.