Title
Environmental exposure and leptospirosis, Peru
Date Issued
01 January 2004
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Johnson M.A.S.
Smith H.
Joseph P.
Bautista C.T.
Cespedes M.
Klatsky P.
Vidal C.
Terry H.
Parmar P.S.
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
UC San Diego School of Medicine
Publisher(s)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Abstract
Human infection by leptospires has highly variable clinical manifestations, which range from subclinical infection to fulminant disease. We conducted a population-based, cross-sectional seroepidemiologic study in Peru to determine potential relationships of environmental context to human exposure to Leptospira and disease associated with seroconversion. Three areas were studied: a flooded, urban slum in the Peruvian Amazon city of Iquitos; rural, peri-Iquitos villages; and a desert shantytown near Lima. Seroprevalence in Belen was 28% (182/650); in rural areas, 17% (52/316); and in a desert shantytown, 0.7% (1/150). Leptospira-infected peridomestic rats were found in all locales. In Belen, 20 (12.4%) of 161 patients seroconverted between dry and wet seasons (an incidence rate of 288/1,000). Seroconversion was associated with history of febrile illness; severe leptospirosis was not seen. Human exposure to Leptospira in the Iquitos region is high, likely related both to the ubiquity of leptospires in the environment and human behavior conducive to transmission from infected zoonotic sources.
Start page
1016
End page
1022
Volume
10
Issue
6
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Enfermedades infecciosas
Epidemiología
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-2542626807
PubMed ID
Source
Emerging Infectious Diseases
ISSN of the container
10806040
Sponsor(s)
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases - K24AI068903, T35AI007646.
Fogarty International Center - D43TW000910, D43TW007120, R01TW005860.
Sources of information:
Directorio de Producción Científica
Scopus