Epidemiological characteristics of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome in Hefei of Anhui Province: a population-based surveillance study from 2011 to 2018

In this study, we investigated the epidemiological characteristics of SFTS patients in Hefei from 2011 to 2018. In addition, we conducted a serological survey of SFTSV-specific antibody among healthy residents of five counties. We performed a retrospective observational study of SFTS cases reported to Hefei Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) during Jan 2011 to Dec 2018. Almost every patient completed a structure questionnaire including clinical examination, course of disease, and history of epidemiology. A total of 754 serum specimens were collected and tested for IgG antibody with double-antigen sandwich ELISA method. Of 257 cases reported during that period, 33 died, with a case fatality rate of 13.0%. We found no significant difference between 30 non-survivors and 198 survivors except for age. The overall rate of seropositivity for SFTSV antibodies among healthy residents were 20.16%. We demonstrated that living in hilly areas, direct contact with domestic livestock and knowledge of tick-borne disease were significantly associated with positive serology result. SFTSV infection was prevalent among farming-related populations. Our study identified a relatively high seroprevalence of SFTSV-specific antibody in healthy residents, which provided the basis for asymptomatic SFTSV infections. More attention should be given to susceptible population and prevent SFTSV outbreak in high-endemic areas.
Source: European Journal of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases - Category: Microbiology Source Type: research