Table 3.
Detection of anti-Brucella antibodies and DNA in AFI patients using RBPT and real-time PCR, respectively, in three tertiary care hospitals of the Rawalpindi/Islamabad region, Pakistan, according to their potential risk factors.
| Risk Factors | Categories | Number of Patients | Seropositive (%) | DNA (%) | p-Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age (Years) | 21 to 30 | 60 | 6 (10%) | 4 (6.6%) | 0.017 |
| 31 to 40 | 320 | 26 (8.1%) | 14 (4.4%) | ||
| 41 and above | 66 | 13 (19.7%) | 8 (12.1%) | ||
| Gender | Male | 230 | 17 (7.4%) | 6 (2.6%) | 0.07 |
| Female | 216 | 28 (13%) | 20 (9.3%) | ||
| Occupation | Livestock Farmers | 116 | 10 (8.6%) | 6 (5.2%) | 0.4 |
| Businessmen | 102 | 7 (6.9%) | 3 (3.0%) | ||
| Employer | 22 | 2 (9.1%) | 0 | ||
| Housewives | 206 | 26 (12.6%) | 17 (8.3%) | ||
| Geographical region | Rawalpindi | 261 | 28 (10.7%) | 16 (6.1%) | 0.619 |
| Islamabad | 185 | 17 (9.2%) | 10 (5.4%) | ||
| Urbanicity | Rural | 268 | 29 (10.8%) | 18 (6.7%) | 0.639 |
| Urban | 178 | 16 (9%) | 8 (4.5%) | ||
| Socioeconomic status | Middle | 427 | 42 (9.8%) | 18 (4.2%) | 0.56 |
| Poor | 19 | 3 (15.8%) | 1 (5.3%) | ||
| Contact with animals | Yes | 200 | 33 (16.5%) | 18 (9.0%) | 0.0001 |
| No | 246 | 12 (4.9%) | 8 (3.3%) | ||
| Consumption of raw milk | Yes | 230 | 30 (13%) | 19 (8.3%) | 0.0003 |
| No | 216 | 15 (6.9%) | 7 (3.2%) |