Seroprevalence and risk factor analysis of brucellosis among dairy farmers in Aligarh region, North India: creating awareness of a neglected disease
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Introduction. Brucellosis, a globally distributed zoonotic disease, is caused by the Gram-negative bacteria known as Brucella . Humans acquire infection through direct contact with the blood, urine and placenta of animals, inhalation of dust or aerosols at infected animal farms, and raw milk and meat intake. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of brucellosis in dairy farmers in and around the Aligarh region of North India, to document various clinical signs and symptoms in Brucella- positive individuals, and to create awareness in dairy farmers concerning brucellosis and ways to prevent it.
Methods. This was an observational study that included 125 dairy farmers in and around the Aligarh region. Serum samples were taken from this high-risk group after obtaining informed consent. Further, a pre-designed proforma was used to collect information about their knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) concerning brucellosis and assess the risk factors for the disease. The Rose Bengal test (RBT), serum agglutination test (SAT) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) were performed to detect the seroprevalence of brucellosis.
Result. Brucella infection was diagnosed in 64 (51.20 %) cases by indirect ELISA (IgM+IgG), 41 (32.8 %) by RBT and 4 (3.2 %) by SAT. Significant clustering of patients was seen in the 20–55 years age group. The most common symptoms in ELISA IgM-positive patients were joint pain (16.07 %), fatigue (14.28 %), anorexia (12.50 %), weight loss (8.92 %), malaise (5.35 %), undulant fever (3.57 %), night sweats (3.57 %) and headache (1.78 %). The findings of this study indicate that ELISA (IgM+IgG) exhibits great sensitivity as compared to SAT and RBT. KAP was very poor among dairy farmers.
Conclusion. In India, Brucella is a frequent but severely underreported illness. ELISA is the most sensitive serological test for diagnosing brucellosis. No potential vaccine has yet been introduced for humans against brucellosis. Thus, it is necessary to impart awareness and sensitize high-risk groups concerning brucellosis.
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The work presented is clear and the arguments well formed.
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Comments to Author
Already reviewed by two reviewers Editing is already done
Please rate the manuscript for methodological rigour
Very good
Please rate the quality of the presentation and structure of the manuscript
Very good
To what extent are the conclusions supported by the data?
Strongly support
Do you have any concerns of possible image manipulation, plagiarism or any other unethical practices?
No
Is there a potential financial or other conflict of interest between yourself and the author(s)?
No
If this manuscript involves human and/or animal work, have the subjects been treated in an ethical manner and the authors complied with the appropriate guidelines?
Yes
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Comments to Author
All sections of the manuscript need major revisions. This includes English construction, writing out paragraphs in full as opposed to bullet form. The methodology needs to be clearly written, and related components lumped together. For instance in the methodology the author introduced blood collection and processing, then jumped to KPA before returning to the blood analysis. The procedures performed must be well detailed. For instance the author will talk about a kit being used without giving the kit its full description, nor siting the appropriate reference for such a methodology. Some results were not supported by the methodology and data. For instance the author makes reference to ELISA being more sensitive than the other tests but did not show who they tested for sensitivity of the test. Having …
Comments to Author
All sections of the manuscript need major revisions. This includes English construction, writing out paragraphs in full as opposed to bullet form. The methodology needs to be clearly written, and related components lumped together. For instance in the methodology the author introduced blood collection and processing, then jumped to KPA before returning to the blood analysis. The procedures performed must be well detailed. For instance the author will talk about a kit being used without giving the kit its full description, nor siting the appropriate reference for such a methodology. Some results were not supported by the methodology and data. For instance the author makes reference to ELISA being more sensitive than the other tests but did not show who they tested for sensitivity of the test. Having many positive cases is not a sign of sensitivity as described in the literature. The author makes errors of fact. For instance the author says the data proved that prevalence of brucellosis was higher in dairy farmers. That is wrong since the only sampled population in the study is that of dairy farmers only. No other group of farmers such as beef cattle farms were used as a comparison. The author makes errors in examining cause-effect relationships. For instance that brucellosis was high where a farmers had contact with retained placenta. This is a cross sectional survey by the way, and coming up with such conclusions may prove impossible.
Please rate the manuscript for methodological rigour
Very poor
Please rate the quality of the presentation and structure of the manuscript
Poor
To what extent are the conclusions supported by the data?
Not at all
Do you have any concerns of possible image manipulation, plagiarism or any other unethical practices?
No
Is there a potential financial or other conflict of interest between yourself and the author(s)?
No
If this manuscript involves human and/or animal work, have the subjects been treated in an ethical manner and the authors complied with the appropriate guidelines?
Yes
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The work presented is clear and the arguments well formed. This study would be a valuable contribution to the existing literature.
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Comments to Author
The manuscript titled "Seroprevalence and risk factor analysis of Brucellosis among Dairy Farmers in Aligarh Region of North India: Creating awareness of a Neglected Disease" is an important study mainly focussing on brucellosis, a zoonotic disease. The authors found the prevalence of brucellosis much higher than what is expected. Clinicians often don't consider it in the differential diagnosis as exact prevalence of this in unknown in various areas as it is a severely underreported illness. ELISA is the most sensitive serological test for diagnosing Brucellosis. Thus, it is necessary to impart awareness and sensitize the high-risk groups about Brucellosis. The manuscript is within the journal's scope. It's well-written and includes a current overview of the literature. The abstract is written in a …
Comments to Author
The manuscript titled "Seroprevalence and risk factor analysis of Brucellosis among Dairy Farmers in Aligarh Region of North India: Creating awareness of a Neglected Disease" is an important study mainly focussing on brucellosis, a zoonotic disease. The authors found the prevalence of brucellosis much higher than what is expected. Clinicians often don't consider it in the differential diagnosis as exact prevalence of this in unknown in various areas as it is a severely underreported illness. ELISA is the most sensitive serological test for diagnosing Brucellosis. Thus, it is necessary to impart awareness and sensitize the high-risk groups about Brucellosis. The manuscript is within the journal's scope. It's well-written and includes a current overview of the literature. The abstract is written in a clear and concise manner. The materials and processes have been meticulously presented. The findings have been thoroughly explored, and suitable figures and tables have been included; however, before acceptance, the author should address the following: -Material Methods - A. study period has not been defined properly in terms of month and year. -Authors should italicize Brucella and its Species throughout the manuscript. - Limitation of the study is lacking in the manuscript, nd should be discussed in details.
Please rate the manuscript for methodological rigour
Satisfactory
Please rate the quality of the presentation and structure of the manuscript
Good
To what extent are the conclusions supported by the data?
Strongly support
Do you have any concerns of possible image manipulation, plagiarism or any other unethical practices?
No
Is there a potential financial or other conflict of interest between yourself and the author(s)?
No
If this manuscript involves human and/or animal work, have the subjects been treated in an ethical manner and the authors complied with the appropriate guidelines?
Yes
-
Comments to Author
Dear Author, Method section: 1.Please describe the procedure of RBT and do not introduce the tect itself. 2,Data collectionis as the same as statistical analysis. You must combine them. Result section: 3- the positive number of ELISA in the text differs with table 2. Which of them is correct? Also, the perc ent was calculated mistakenly. 4.Figure 3 is a repetiotion of table2. Delete it. 5-Line 201: the number in paranthesis show the total number not those with brucellosis. correct the sentence. 6-fig 6 is a repetion of table 6. deelete one of them.
Please rate the manuscript for methodological rigour
Poor
Please rate the quality of the presentation and structure of the manuscript
Poor
To what extent are the conclusions supported by the data?
St…
Comments to Author
Dear Author, Method section: 1.Please describe the procedure of RBT and do not introduce the tect itself. 2,Data collectionis as the same as statistical analysis. You must combine them. Result section: 3- the positive number of ELISA in the text differs with table 2. Which of them is correct? Also, the perc ent was calculated mistakenly. 4.Figure 3 is a repetiotion of table2. Delete it. 5-Line 201: the number in paranthesis show the total number not those with brucellosis. correct the sentence. 6-fig 6 is a repetion of table 6. deelete one of them.
Please rate the manuscript for methodological rigour
Poor
Please rate the quality of the presentation and structure of the manuscript
Poor
To what extent are the conclusions supported by the data?
Strongly support
Do you have any concerns of possible image manipulation, plagiarism or any other unethical practices?
No
Is there a potential financial or other conflict of interest between yourself and the author(s)?
No
If this manuscript involves human and/or animal work, have the subjects been treated in an ethical manner and the authors complied with the appropriate guidelines?
Yes
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