@article{947,
  keywords = {Adolescent, Adult, Antigens, Bacterial, Child, Child, Preschool, Family, Glycolipids, Humans, Immunoglobulin M, Infant, Korea, leprosy, Middle Aged, Mycobacterium leprae, Philippines, Seroepidemiologic Studies},
  author = {Cho S N and Kim S H and Cellona R V and Chan G P and Fajardo T T and Walsh G P and Kim J D},
  title = {Prevalence of IgM antibodies to phenolic glycolipid I among household contacts and controls in Korea and the Philippines.},
  abstract = {<p>Phenolic glycolipid I (PGL-I) is a Mycobacterium leprae-specific antigen and the antibodies to the antigen may suggest an M. leprae infection. To compare the M. leprae transmission among the populations, we compared the prevalence of anti-PGL-I IgM antibodies among household contacts and controls between Korea and the Philippines. In Korea (prevalence of leprosy--0.04: 1000), the prevalence of anti-PGL-I antibodies were 4.8% among controls and 8.0% among contacts, respectively. On the other hand, the seroprevalence rate was 10.8% among controls and 13.4% among contacts in the Philippines (prevalence of leprosy--0.70: 1000). Interestingly, a marked difference was noted in the prevalance of anti-PGL-I antibodies among children between the countries; 10-14% among children under 10 years old and 15-18% among those aged between 10 and 19 in the Philippines compared to 0% and 2.9-6.4% in Korea, respectively. This study, therefore suggests that a high prevalance of anti-PGL-I IgM antibodies among children may indicate an active transmission of M. leprae, resulting in a higher incidence of leprosy in the population.</p>},
  year = {1992},
  journal = {Leprosy review},
  volume = {63},
  pages = {12-20},
  month = {1992 Mar},
  issn = {0305-7518},
  url = {http://leprev.ilsl.br/pdfs/1992/v63n1/pdf/v63n1a03.pdf},
  doi = {10.5935/0305-7518.19920003},
  language = {eng},
}