Risk factors associated with rural and urban epidemics of leptospirosis in Tiruchirappalli District of Tamilnadu, India

Prabhakaran, SG; Shanmughapriya, Santhanam; Dhanapaul, S.; James, A Ndako; Natarajaseenivasan, Kalimuthusamy

doi:10.1007/s10389-014-0611-1

Cited by 23 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Upsurges are always observed post monsoon with considerable mortalities. 3,8,14 The tropical climate of India favors the survival, maintenance, and transmission of leptospires to human from the environment through carrier animals or by direct contact. Leptospires thrive in water-logged areas after heavy rainfall, and exposure to these contaminated environments poses a risk of infection among humans.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sample size was estimated as per expected prevalence with a relative precision of 20% or an absolute precision of 6% and with 95% confidence limits. 8 A total of 124 and 120 samples were collected from Pudukkottai and Karur districts, respectively. In addition, three control subjects (healthy white-collar workers) from each mine workers were selected from the respective study areas to match for age (±5 years) and sex to make a statistically age-matched case-control study.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The endpoint titer for each positive serum was determined, and a titer of 1 in 160 or more against any of the serovar was considered positive. 8 Survey about potential risk factors. Interviews both from the miners and control subjects were performed, and a standardized questionnaire was administered to obtain information on potential exposures to sources of leptospiral infection.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The rigorous survey was designed to obtain detailed information about the study subjects as they pertain to contact with leptospiral reservoirs. 8,11 Statistical analysis. Univariate odds ratios (ORs) for the potential risk factors were calculated by matched analysis, 95% confidence intervals were calculated using maximum likelihood ratio method, 12 and analysis was performed with EpiInfo (Version 6.04; CDC, Atlanta, GA).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Leptospirosis Seroprevalence Among Blue Metal Mine Workers of Tamil Nadu, India

Parveen

Suganyaa

Sathya

et al. 2016

The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

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Leptospirosis is mainly considered an occupational disease, prevalent among agriculture, sewage works, forestry, and animal slaughtering populations. However, putative risk to miners and their inclusion in the high-risk leptospirosis group remain in need of rigorous analysis. Therefore, a study was conducted with the objective to assess the leptospirosis seroprevalence among miners of two districts of Tamil Nadu, India. A total of 244 sera samples from Pudukkottai miners (124) and Karur miners (120) were analyzed by microscopic agglutination test. Antibodies to leptospires were detected in 94 samples giving an overall seroprevalence of 38.5%. The seroprevalence was higher among Pudukkottai miners (65.3%) when compared with Karur miners (10.8%). Seroprevalence among control population (13%) was significantly less than that of the Pudukkottai miners marking a possible high-risk population group distinction. Subject sera most commonly reacted with organisms of the serogroup Autumnalis, and the pattern was similar in carrier animals of the study areas. Two leptospires were isolated from kidney samples of rats. The prevalence of Autumnalis among rodents and humans source tracked human leptospirosis among the miners. The study also determined that Pudukkottai miners are subjected to high-risk challenges such as exposure to water bodies on the way to the mines (odds ratio [OR] = 10.6), wet mine areas (OR = 10.6), rat infestation (OR = 4.6), and cattle rearing (OR = 10.4) and are thus frequently exposed to leptospirosis compared with Karur miners. Hence, control strategies targeting these populations will likely to prove to be effective remediation strategies benefiting Pudukkottai miners and workers in similar environments across occupations.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Leptospirosis Seroprevalence Among Blue Metal Mine Workers of Tamil Nadu, India

Parveen

Suganyaa

Sathya

et al. 2016

The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

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“…Increased economic and recreational activity in pristine areas as well as flooding associated with climatic change has increased human exposure to leptospires. Indeed, several large outbreaks have been reported in Nicaragua (1, 2), Brazil (3), New Caledonia (4), the Federated States of Micronesia (5), Japan (6), and India (7)(8)(9)(10) in recent years. Conventionally, culture positivity, seroconversion, or 4-fold rises in microscopic agglutination test (MAT) titers are demonstrated for confirmation of leptospirosis.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

In Vivo -Expressed Proteins of Virulent Leptospira interrogans Serovar Autumnalis N2 Elicit Strong IgM Responses of Value in Conclusive Diagnosis

Veerapandian

Shanmughapriya

Murugesan

et al. 2016

Clin Vaccine Immunol

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bLeptospirosis is a serious zoonosis that is underdiagnosed because of limited access to laboratory facilities in Southeast Asia, Central and South America, and Oceania. Timely diagnosis of locally distributed serovars of high virulence is crucial for successful care and outbreak management. Using pooled patient sera, an expression gene library of a virulent Leptospira interrogans serovar Autumnalis strain N2 isolated in South India was screened. The identified genes were characterized, and the purified recombinant proteins were used as antigens in IgM enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) either singly or in combination. Sera (n ‫؍‬ 118) from cases of acute leptospirosis along with sera (n ‫؍‬ 58) from healthy subjects were tested for reactivity with the identified proteins in an ELISA designed to detect specific IgM responses. We have identified nine immunoreactive proteins, ArgC, RecA, GlpF, FliD, TrmD, RplS, RnhB, Lp28.6, and Lrr44.9, which were found to be highly conserved among pathogenic leptospires. Apparently, the proteins ArgC, RecA, GlpF, FliD, TrmD, and Lrr44.9 are expressed during natural infection of the host and undetectable in in vitro cultures. Among all the recombinant proteins used as antigens in IgM ELISA, ArgC had the highest sensitivity and specificity, 89.8% and 95.5%, respectively, for the conclusive diagnosis of leptospirosis. The use of ArgC and RecA in combination for IgM ELISA increased the sensitivity and specificity to 95.7% and 94.9%, respectively. ArgC and RecA thus elicited specific IgM responses and were therefore effective in laboratory confirmation of Leptospira infection.

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