Immune Response to Common Bacteria Causing Sepsis in Myanmar Workers in Northeast Thailand: A Preliminary Study

Abstract

Migrant workers from Myanmar living in Thailand have significantly increased, these migrant workers may display health risk of common bacterial infections and host immune response of Myanmar workers to those common bacterial infections is still not well known. In this study, we observed antibodies and interferon-gamma to the common bacteria causing sepsis in this area, such as Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumonia and Pseudomonas aeruginosa including Burkholderia pseudomallei which is pathogenic and endemic in this area. The results showed that Myanmar workers decreased cellular function of interferon-gamma response, compared with native Thai workers. But the humoral response of human IgG showed no significant difference between Myanmar and Thai workers. Even though E. coli and K. pneumonia induced lower level of plasma IgG response than the other two bacteria, but host plasma could effectively kill and clear the bacteria within an hour in vitro. Interestingly, the level of anti-Hcp 1, which is a diagnostic marker for B. pseudomallei, was low in Myanmar workers suggesting no exposure to this organism. However, the sample size should be increased to reach the conclusion. Our study could provide useful information for Myanmar migrant workers to promote safe working and awareness of health risks to bacterial infections. Keywords: Burkholderia pseudomallei, Hcp-1, Interferon gamma, Plasma IgG, Myanmar migrant workers