Abstract

Objective: Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) has been reported particularly in the north-eastern part of Anatolia in Turkey. However, in recent years, many cases have been reported from western cities. Although Aydin is considered as a non-endemic area, 50 cases have been reported between 2006 and 2014. In a previous study, IgG seropositivity was found to be 19.6% in the endemic regions of Aydin. The aim of this study is to determine the seropositivity rates and contributing factors in non-endemic regions of Aydin as well as revealing the position of Aydin on the CCHF map of Turkey.

Methods: Two hundred and ninety-three volunteers were enrolled in this study. Volunteers were asked seventeen questions related to demographic and factual features by face-to-face interviews. The VectoCrimea-CHF-IgG (Vector-Best, Novosibirsk, Russia) ELISA diagnostic kit was used to detect the virus-specific antibodies in serum samples of the volunteers.

Results: IgG seropositivity in the study group was found to be 19.7% (n=58). Twenty-seven (27%) of 100 female participants and 31 (16.1%) of 193 male participants were seropositive for CCHF virus (p<0.05). Seropositivity was significantly higher in female sex (p=0.02). The most effective variable on IgG positivity in χ2 automatic interaction detection analysis was found to be the region. The highest seropositivity was found in Aydin city centre with 29.5% among all study areas (p=0.006).

Conclusions: In our study, we found that seropositivity of non-endemic regions (19.7%) was similar to the endemic regions (19.6%) in Aydin. In high risk areas of our country, IgG seroprevalence is reported as 12.8%. So, we think that Aydin should be considered as an endemic city. Klimik Dergisi 2017; 30(1): 9-14.