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The bacterium has been detected in ticks throughout Europe, with a 0%\u201325% prevalence. <jats:italic>N. mikurensis<\/jats:italic> infection presents unspecific symptoms, which can easily be mistaken for inflammatory disease activity. We aimed to determine the prevalence of <jats:italic>N. mikurensis<\/jats:italic> in rheumatological patients receiving tumour necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi) and a cohort of healthy individuals.<\/jats:p>\n               <\/jats:sec>\n               <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Materials and methods<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>This retrospective cohort study included 400 rheumatological patients treated with TNFi and 400 healthy blood donors. Plasma samples were retrieved from the Danish Rheumatological Biobank and the Danish Blood Donor Study between 2015 and 2022. Age, sex, diagnosis and duration of TNFi treatment were recovered from the Danish Rheumatological Database, DANBIO. Data on age and sex were available for the blood donors. One plasma sample per individual was tested for <jats:italic>N. mikurensis<\/jats:italic> DNA-specific real-time PCR targeting the <jats:italic>groEL<\/jats:italic> gene.<\/jats:p>\n               <\/jats:sec>\n               <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>In the rheumatological patients, the median age was 61 years (IQR 55\u201368 years), 62% were women, and 44% had a diagnosis of seropositive rheumatoid arthritis. In total, 54% of the patients were treated with infliximab. The median time from TNFi initiation to blood sampling was 20 months (IQR, 5\u201360 months). <jats:italic>N. mikurensis<\/jats:italic> DNA was not detected in any samples from patients or blood donors.<\/jats:p>\n               <\/jats:sec>\n               <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>\n                     <jats:italic>N. mikurensis<\/jats:italic> infection does not appear to represent a prevalent risk in Danish rheumatological patients receiving TNFi or in blood donors.<\/jats:p>\n               <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1136\/rmdopen-2023-003660","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,1,10]],"date-time":"2024-01-10T00:30:49Z","timestamp":1704846649000},"page":"e003660","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/crossmarkpolicy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["<i>Neoehrlichia mikurensis<\/i> is uncommon in rheumatological patients receiving tumour necrosis factor inhibitors and in blood donors: a retrospective cohort study"],"prefix":"10.1136","volume":"10","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2493-2147","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rosa","family":"Gynthersen","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Infectious Diseases, Copenhagen University Hospital, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Mathilde","family":"\u00d8rb\u00e6k","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Infectious Diseases, Copenhagen University Hospital, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Estrid","family":"H\u00f8gdall","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Bio- and Genome Bank Denmark (RBGB), Molecular Unit, Department of Pathology, Herlev Hospital, Herlev, Denmark"},{"name":"Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, Copenhagen, Denmark"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Bente","family":"Glintborg","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, Copenhagen, Denmark"},{"name":"DANBIO, The Danish Rheumatologic Biobank and Copenhagen Center for Arthritis Research (COPECARE), Center for Rheumatology and Spine Diseases, Rigshospitalet, Glostrup, Denmark"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sisse Rye","family":"Ostrowski","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, Copenhagen, Denmark"},{"name":"Department of Clinical Immunology, Copenhagen University Hospital, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Lene","family":"Harritsh\u00f8j","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, Copenhagen, Denmark"},{"name":"Department of Clinical Immunology, Copenhagen University Hospital, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4229-6818","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Merete Lund","family":"Hetland","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, Copenhagen, Denmark"},{"name":"DANBIO, The Danish Rheumatologic Biobank and Copenhagen Center for Arthritis Research (COPECARE), Center for Rheumatology and Spine Diseases, Rigshospitalet, Glostrup, Denmark"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Anne-Mette","family":"Lebech","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Infectious Diseases, Copenhagen University Hospital, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, 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