ArticlePLoS neglected tropical diseases2012
Sero-epidemiology as a tool to screen populations for exposure to Mycobacterium ulcerans.
Article in PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
29 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Cell-mediated and serology-based tests for Mycobacterium ulcerans disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2020Pooled it
- Buruli ulcer.Nature reviews. Disease primers · 2025Review
- Systematic review: Global host range, case fatality and detection rates ofJournal of clinical tuberculosis and other mycobacterial diseases · 2024Review
- A human model of Buruli ulcer: The case for controlled human infection and considerations for selecting a Mycobacterium ulcerans challenge strain.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2023Review
- Molecular epidemiology of bovine tuberculosis in Northern Ghana identifies several uncharacterized bovine spoligotypes and suggests possible zoonotic transmission.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2022Article
- Co-infection of HIV in patients with Buruli ulcer disease in Central Ghana.BMC infectious diseases · 2021Article
- Introduction of Mycobacterium ulcerans disease in the Bankim Health District of Cameroon follows damming of the Mapé River.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2020Article
- Buruli ulcer: The Efficacy of Innate Immune Defense May Be a Key Determinant for the Outcome of Infection WithFrontiers in microbiology · 2020Review
- Spontaneous healing of Mycobacterium ulcerans disease in Australian patients.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2019Article
- The changing epidemiology worldwide ofEpidemiology and infection · 2018Article
- Implementing active community-based surveillance-response system for Buruli ulcer early case detection and management in Ghana.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2018Article
- Seasonal Pattern of Mycobacterium ulcerans, the Causative Agent of Buruli Ulcer, in the Environment in Ghana.Microbial ecology · 2017Article
- Environmental and Behavioral Drivers of Buruli Ulcer Disease in Selected Communities Along the Densu River Basin of Ghana: A Case-Control Study.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2017Article
- Global and local environmental changes as drivers of Buruli ulcer emergence.Emerging microbes & infections · 2017Review
- Distribution and Risk of Mycolactone-Producing Mycobacteria Transmission within Buruli Ulcer Endemic Communities in Côte d'Ivoire.Tropical medicine and infectious disease · 2017Article
- Landscape and environmental influences on Mycobacterium ulcerans distribution among aquatic sites in Ghana.PloS one · 2017Article
- Susceptibility toFrontiers in microbiology · 2017Article
- Isolation of Nontuberculous Mycobacteria from the Environment of Ghanian Communities Where Buruli Ulcer Is Endemic.Applied and environmental microbiology · 2016Article
- Burden and Historical Trend of Buruli Ulcer Prevalence in Selected Communities along the Offin River of Ghana.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2016Article
- Interferon-γ Is a Crucial Activator of Early Host Immune Defense against Mycobacterium ulcerans Infection in Mice.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2016Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPrevious analyses of sera from a limited number of Ghanaian Buruli ulcer (BU) patients, their household contacts, individuals living in BU non-endemic regions as well as European controls have indicated that antibody responses to the M. ulcerans 18 kDa small heat shock protein (shsp) reflect exposure to this pathogen. Here, we have investigated to what extent inhabitants of regions in Ghana regarded as non-endemic for BU develop anti-18 kDa shsp antibody titers. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL
findingsFor this purpose we determined anti-18 kDa shsp IgG titers in sera collected from healthy inhabitants of the BU endemic Densu River Valley and the Volta Region, which was so far regarded as BU non-endemic. Significantly more sera from the Densu River Valley contained anti-18 kDa shsp IgG (32% versus 12%, respectively). However, some sera from the Volta Region also showed high titers. When interviewing these sero-responders, it was revealed that the person with the highest titer had a chronic wound, which was clinically diagnosed and laboratory reconfirmed as active BU. After identification of this BU index case, further BU cases were clinically diagnosed by the Volta Region local health authorities and laboratory reconfirmed. Interestingly, there was neither a difference in sero-prevalence nor in IS2404 PCR positivity of environmental samples between BU endemic and non-endemic communities located in the Densu River Valley.
conclusionsThese data indicate that the intensity of exposure to M. ulcerans in endemic and non-endemic communities along the Densu River is comparable and that currently unknown host and/or pathogen factors may determine how frequently exposure is leading to clinical disease. While even high serum titers of anti-18 kDa shsp IgG do not indicate active disease, sero-epidemiological studies can be used to identify new BU endemic areas.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.