Factors associated with Leptospira sp infection in a large urban center in northeastern Brazil

• Autor(a) principal: Dias,Juarez Pereira
• Data de Publicação: 2007
• Outros Autores: Teixeira,Maria Glória, Costa,Maria Conceição Nascimento, Mendes,Carlos Maurício Cardeal, Guimarães,Patrícia, Reis,Mitermayer Galvão, Ko,Albert, Barreto,Maurício Lima
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical
• Texto Completo: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0037-86822007000500002
• topic: Leptospirosis; Seroprevalence; Epidemiology; Urban epidemics

Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease that has emerged to cause epidemics in urban communities in developing countries. However, little is known about the infection in the general population. A seroprevalence survey was performed on a random sample of 1,390 subjects in Salvador, Brazil. Data on environmental and socioeconomic factors were collected. The microagglutination test of serum samples was used to show any prior Leptospira infection. The overall seroprevalence was 12.4%. Among the seropositive individuals, 111 (61%) had high titers for serovars of the Icterohaemorrhagiae serogroup. Seroprevalence increased with age and was similar for males and females. A positive correlation between Leptospira infection and low educational level was found. These findings indicate that a significant proportion of this urban population is exposed to pathogenic Leptospira. Public health actions for leptospirosis control will need to target not only the traditional groups at risk of infection with severe forms of this disease, but also the general population that is at risk.