Epidemiological situation of human leptospirosis in Brazil and challenges in its diagnosis with a focus on molecular approaches

Andressa Penedo De Paiva Estrella,Amanda Silva Hecktheuer,Ricardo Ruiz Mazzon,Fabienne Antunes Ferreira

doi:10.5007/2175-7925.2021.e82769

Andressa Penedo De Paiva Estrella, Amanda Silva Hecktheuer + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.5007/2175-7925.2021.e82769

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Journal: Biotemas	Publication Date: Dec 1, 2021
License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina

Abstract

Leptospira interrogans is one of the causative agents of human leptospirosis, a zoonotic disease with worldwide distribution. Nowadays, this zoonosis is considered one of the biggest in terms of morbidity and mortality (even considering Dengue, the major arbovirosis affecting humans), having in Brazil 3,800 human cases per year. Currently, difficulties imposed by the absence of a rapid, sensitive diagnostic test that can be used as a routine test for the detection of leptospirosis lead to misdiagnosis and underreported cases. The gold standard diagnostic test for leptospirosis is the microscopic agglutination test (MAT), which presents difficulties in execution and interpretation. Therefore, this review proposes a general view of the epidemiologic situation of the disease in Brazil, in addition to the current contributions in the literature for the development of new diagnostic methods. Amongst them, the gene sequences polymorphism analysis, which presents potential for phylogenetic and populational analysis and genotyping of Leptospira spp.

Highlights

Leptospira and leptospirosisLeptospirosis is a neglected zoonosis worldwide, caused by pathogenic spirochetes of the genus Leptospira, which is associated with the disease in humans or other mammals (LEVETT, 2015)
Leptospirosis is a neglected zoonosis worldwide, caused by pathogenic spirochetes of the genus Leptospira, which is associated with the disease in humans or other mammals (LEVETT, 2015)
Pathogenic Leptospira spp. colonize the proximal renal tubules of the host, and they are excreted to the environment through the urine, contaminating soil and water samples (KO et al, 2009)

Summary

Introduction

Leptospira and leptospirosisLeptospirosis is a neglected zoonosis worldwide, caused by pathogenic spirochetes of the genus Leptospira, which is associated with the disease in humans or other mammals (LEVETT, 2015). Some diagnostic techniques are commercially available for leptospirosis, new and improved methods are still required to increase the power of the diagnosis and diminish the underreport of the disease.

Results

Conclusion