Clinical-epidemiological study of leptospirosis in humans and reservoirs in Yucatán, México

Abstract

SUMMARYA leptospirosis clinical-epidemiological study was made in humans and reservoirs in the state of Yucatán, México. Interviews and serological analyses were made on 400 persons from an open population, 439 probable cases of leptospirosis and 1060 animal reservoirs (cows, pigs, dogs, rats and opossums). IgM Leptospira Dipstick™ and Microscopic Agglutination Test (MAT) was used to detect human antibodies to leptospiras and serovar respectively. Leptospirosis incidence in humans was 2.2/100,000 inhab. in 1998, 0.7/100,000 in 1999 and 0.9/100,000 in 2000. Overall seroprevalence was 14.2%, relatively unchanged from seroprevalences observed 20 years ago. Highest seropositivity was found in people over 56 years of age, predominating males over females. Predominant serovars in the open population were tarassovi, hardjo, pomona and panama. Leptospirosis cases were most frequent in rural areas, and the anicteric course predominated over the icteric. The panama, icterohaemorrhagiae and pomona serovars predominated in both anicteric and icteric courses. Dogs, pigs and rodents had the highest seropositivity among the reservoirs. Contact with rodents and natural water sources were significant factors (p ≤ 0.05). Human cases (74%) occurred during the rainy season. It is concluded that leptospirosis is still a serious illness with important clinical and epidemiological implications in the state of Yucatán, Mexico.

Seroprevalence and factors associated with Leptospira infection in an urban district of Cali, Colombia

“…The highest seroprevalence (19%) was reported for people living in SES-1, suggesting an endemic leptospirosis pattern in that zone. The older age group showed the highest Leptospira seroprevalence (18.9%), as described in previous studies, likely due to longer lifetime exposure 9,18,19,20 .…”

“…However, of note, we could have selected more females than males given the design of our study. Unlike our study, predominance of seroprevalence in men over women has been reported in several seroepidemiological studies in Colombia and elsewhere 7,9,10,18,19,21,40,41 , and most of the laboratoryconfirmed clinical cases of leptospirosis have been reported to occur in men 4,11,42,43,44,45,46,47 . Single marital status was associated with lower odds of Leptospira seropositivity (aOR = 0.28; 95%CI: 0.12-0.69; p = 0.007).…”

“…Our study found no increased prevalence associated with dog ownership or observation of rodents, which have been reported as risk factors for urban leptospirosis in several studies elsewhere 2,7,8,18,39 . In Cali, Ferro et al 9 found that contact with domestic animals, namely pigs and rabbits, was the only statistically significant risk factor for the presence of leptospiral antibodies; dogs and rodents were not associated with Leptospira seroprevalence.…”

“…Two serum samples were unsuitable for serological testing and were not included in seroprevalence calculation. Most participants were female (226, 64.8%), with a mean age of 41.4 years ( 18.5% reported greater than a high school diploma. The most frequent occupation was housewife (39.6%), followed by student (17.1%).…”

Seroprevalencia de infección por Leptospira y factores de riesgo en estudiantes de una universidad de Colombia

“…Sin embargo, se encontró que los resultados obtenidos en estudiantes de medicina veterinaria y zootecnia del presente estudio, difieren del estudio realizado en Villavicencio, Colombia, donde la mayor seroprevalencia se obtuvo en los serovares L. javanica, L. wollfi, y no se encontró prevalencia de los serovares L. tarassovi, L. hardjo y L. bratislava (24). Se encontró una diferencia significativa en la prevalencia de infección entre hombres y mujeres, siendo mayor en los hombres, hallazgos que coinciden con lo reportado en otros estudios (20,25).…”