Seroprevalence of Ehrlichiosis in Blood Sample from HIV-Infected Cases

Dear Editor, Ehrlichiosis is an important infection that is considered a newly emerging zoonosis. The infection is carried by arthropods from dogs to human beings and becomes a great concern at present.[1] In HIV-infected patients, the severe infection can be seen due to impaired immune status[2] and can be fatal.[3] Here, the authors investigated the seropositivity for ehrlichiosis in 200 anonymous samples from HIV-infected cases (as laboratory wastes from a medical center). The serological analysis is based on an indirect immunofluorescence assay for detecting antibody reactivity. The protocol of this study is approved by a local ethical committee. The seropositive rate is calculated as "(number of test positive samples/number of all samples) ×100" and presented as percentage. In addition, 95% confidence interval (CI) of derived seropositive rate is also calculated. According to this study, there is only one seropositive sample giving the prevalence equal to 0.5% (95% CI = 0.07%–0.53%). Of interest, this is the first world report on the seroprevalence of this infectious disease among HIV-infected cases. At present, ehrlichiosis is classified as an important emerging zoonosis[4] and the infections in HIV-infected cases are already reported.[2,5] Hence, ehrlichiosis might be an important problem for anyone with HIV infection. Financial support and sponsorship Nil. Conflicts of interest There are no conflicts of interest.