Antibody responses against Pneumocystis jirovecii in health care workers over time

In a previous cross-sectional study, we showed that clinical staff working in a hospital had significantly higher antibody levels than nonclinical staff to Pneumocystis jirovecii. We conducted a longitudinal study, described here, to determine whether occupation and self-reported exposure to a patie...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Emerging infectious diseases 2013-10, Vol.19 (10), p.1612-1620
Main Authors: Fong, Serena, Daly, Kieran R, Tipirneni, Renuka, Jarlsberg, Leah G, Djawe, Kpandja, Koch, Judy V, Swartzman, Alexandra, Roth, Brenna, Walzer, Peter D, Huang, Laurence
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Antibodies, Fungal - blood
Female
Fungal Proteins - immunology
Glycoproteins - immunology
health care worker–patient
Health Personnel
HIV
human immunodeficiency virus
Humans
Immunity
Longitudinal Studies
major surface glycoprotein
Male
Medical personnel
Middle Aged
Mycoses
Observations
Occupational diseases
Occupational Exposure
Physiological aspects
Pneumocystis carinii - immunology
Pneumocystis jirovecii
Pneumonia, Pneumocystis - immunology
Pneumonia, Pneumocystis - microbiology
Pneumonia, Pneumocystis - transmission
Self Report
Time Factors
transmission
Young Adult
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:In a previous cross-sectional study, we showed that clinical staff working in a hospital had significantly higher antibody levels than nonclinical staff to Pneumocystis jirovecii. We conducted a longitudinal study, described here, to determine whether occupation and self-reported exposure to a patient with P. jirovecii pneumonia were associated with antibody levels to P. jirovecii over time. Baseline and quarterly serum specimens were collected and analyzed by using an ELISA that targeted different variants of the Pneumocystis major surface glycoprotein (MsgA, MsgB, MsgC1, MsgC3, MsgC8, and MsgC9). Clinical staff had significantly higher estimated geometric mean antibody levels against MsgC1 and MsgC8 than did nonclinical staff over time. Significant differences were observed when we compared the change in antibody levels to the different MsgC variants for staff who were and were not exposed to P. jirovecii pneumonia-infected patients. MsgC variants may serve as indicators of exposure to P. jirovecii in immunocompetent persons.
ISSN:1080-6040
1080-6059
DOI:10.3201/eid1910.121836