@article{Banović2021b,

title = {Shared Odds of Borrelia and Rabies Virus Exposure in Serbia},

author = {Pavle Banović and Adrian Alberto Díaz-Sánchez and Dragana Mijatović and Dragana Vujin and Horvath Zsolt and Nenad Vranješ and Zorana Budakov-Obradovic and Nevenka Bujandric and Jasmina Grujic and Abdul Gaffar and Abdul Jabbar and Verica Simin and Dasiel Obregon and Alejandro Cabezas-Cruz},

editor = {Ángeles Sonia Olmeda},

doi = {10.3390/pathogens10040399},

year  = {2021},

date = {2021-03-28},

journal = {Pathogens},

volume = {10},

number = {4},

abstract = {Lyme borreliosis (LB) is the most common tick-borne disease in Serbia and other European countries. Rabies is a fatal zoonosis distributed worldwide and is caused by the rabies virus. Professionals at risk of rabies—including veterinarians, hunters, communal service workers, and forestry workers—overlap with some professions at a higher risk of exposure to tick bites and tick-borne pathogen infections. We hypothesized that individuals identified by the public health system as at risk of rabies virus infection, and consequently vaccinated against rabies virus, also share a higher likelihood of Borrelia exposure. To test our hypothesis, a case-control study was carried out during 2019 in Serbia to determine the seroprevalence of anti-Borrelia antibodies in two case groups (individuals at risk and vaccinated against rabies virus) and a control group (individuals without risk of rabies). Individuals vaccinated against rabies following either “pre-exposure protocol” (PrEP, n = 58) or “post-exposure protocol” (PEP, n = 42) were considered as rabies risk groups and healthy blood donors (n = 30) as the control group. The results showed higher Borrelia seroprevalence in PrEP (17.2%; 10/58) and PEP (19.0%; 8/42) groups compared with the control group (6.67%; 2/30). Furthermore, odds ratio (OR) analysis showed that risk of rabies (in either the PrEP (OR = 2.91) or PEP (OR = 3.29) groups) is associated with increased odds of being seropositive to Borrelia. However, the difference in Borrelia seroprevalence between groups was not statistically significant (Chi-square (χ²) test p > 0.05). The shared odds of LB and rabies exposure found in this study suggest that, in countries where both diseases occur, the common citizen can be at risk of both diseases when in a risky habitat. These findings are important to guide physicians in targeting high-risk groups, and diagnose LB, and to guide decision-makers in targeting control and prevention measures for both infections in risk areas.},

keywords = {Borrelia, Rabies, risk odds, Serbia},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Banović2020,

title = {Humans infested with Ixodes ricinus are exposed to a diverse array of tick-borne pathogens in Serbia},

author = {Pavle Banović, Adrian Alberto Díaz-Sánchez, Clemence Galon, Verica Simin, Dragana Mijatović, Dasiel Obregón, Sara Moutailler, AlejandroCabezas-Cruz

},

url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1877959X20304799?fbclid=IwAR3nbGgtSfPEXPX54Vr7DTBcHI_KlKPum63yjfSznOTm7NFkh7PyqLzerTs},

doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ttbdis.2020.101609},

year  = {2020},

date = {2020-11-24},

journal = {Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases},

keywords = {Borrelia, rickettsia, Serbia, ticks},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Verica2020,

title = {Borellia burgdorferi infection in removed ticks and anti-borrelia antibodies in infested patients admitted to the Pasteur Institute, Novi Sad},

author = {Simin Verica and Dragana Mijatović and Snežana Tomanović and Milan Miljević and Borislav Čabrilo and Bogdan Ivana and Pavle Banović},

doi = {10.2298/VETGL200527008S},

year  = {2020},

date = {2020-10-03},

journal = {Veterinarski glasnik},

abstract = {Introduction. The primary objectives of this study were (1) to determine the presence of Borrelia burgdorferi infection in ticks removed from patients for the purpose of singling out sites with increased risk of Lyme borreliosis, and (2) to determine the presence of IgM and/or IgG antibodies against B.  burgdorferi  sensu lato (s. l.) complex in sera of patients who had ticks removed 

Materials  and  Methods.  From  108  ticks  removed  from  patients,  all  were  examined zoologically and a sub-sample of 91 ticks was tested using PCR analysis to determine the presence of DNA indicating B. burgdorferi infection. To detect anti-Borrelia IgM and/or IgG antibodies in 61 patients bitten by ticks, we used line recombinant immunoblot test.

Results and Conclusions. The most common tick identified was Ixodes ricinus. B. burgdorferi s. l. was present in 37 of 91 tested ticks (40.7%). Seroconversion against B. burgdorferi s. l. antigen was detected in 12 of 61 patients (19.7%). Most of the infected ticks were from the province of Vojvodina (11 municipalities), with the city of Novi Sad proving to be the site with the highest number of infected ticks, 6 in total. },

keywords = {Borrelia, Borrelia burgdorferi, Lyme borreliosis, Novi Sad, ticks},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Pavle2020,

title = {Mysterious path of Borrelia spielmanii: spreading without morphological alteration of collagen type I and IV},

author = {Banović Pavle and Ivan Čapo and Dejan Ogorelica and Nenad Vranješ and Simin Verica and Dušan Lalošević},

url = {https://www.futuremedicine.com/doi/10.2217/fmb-2019-0217},

doi = {https://doi.org/10.2217/fmb-2019-0217},

year  = {2020},

date = {2020-01-06},

journal = {Future Microbiology},

abstract = {The majority of suggested mechanisms of Borrelia spreading inside erythema migrans (EM) are developed from in vitro studies and animal models. This report is the first to describe pathomorphological substrate of EM caused by Borrelia spielmanii in humans, addressing the hypothesis of enhanced Borrelia penetration through extracellular matrix. In the process of ruling out of atypical Masters’ disease, we conducted a punch biopsy of suspected EM and a two-tier serology testing for Lyme borreliosis, where we registered antibodies against B. spielmanii. Skin biopsy showed CD4+ and CD8+ lymphocyte involvement and high activity of matrix metalloproteinase 9. No alterations were detected in distribution and morphology of collagen type I and IV. Therefore, it is suggested that other mechanisms should be considered as major contributing factors to local spreading of B.spielmanii.},

keywords = {B. spielmanii, Borrelia, collagen type I, collagen type IV, erythema migrans, Lyme borreliosis, MMP9},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{article,

title = {Borrelia-like organism in heart capillaries of patient with Lyme-disease  seen by electron microscopy},

author = {Dušan Lalošević and Vesna Lalošević and Anastazija Stojšić-Milosavljević and Đurica Stojšić},

url = {https://www.pasterovzavod.rs/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/lalosevic2010.pdf},

doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijcard.2008.12.165},

year  = {2010},

date = {2010-01-24},

journal = {International Journal of Cardiology},

volume = {145},

number = {3},

pages = {e96–e98},

abstract = {A case of a patient who developed an acute myocarditis due to Lyme disease is reported. An increased serum antibody titer to Borrelia burgdorferi suggested a diagnosis and in addition of basic clinical methods, endomyocardial biopsy performed and analyzed by transmission electron microscopy. The lumen of myocardial capillaries was founded mostly filled with detritus and fibrin precipitate, between them several bacterial fragments were identified. The electron-microscopic characteristics of the microorganisms in this specimen, revealing irregularly coiled appearance and consistent thickness of 0.2 μm, correspond to the spiral-like structure of Lyme disease borrelia. The presence of fibrin deposits on the capillary endothelium and necrosis of myocardiocytes, suggests that the cardiopathy in our patient was represent borrelia-mediated damage of the hearth microcirculation.},

keywords = {Borrelia, Clinical case, Endomyocardial biopsy, Lyme borreliosis, Ultrastructure},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}