Seroprevalence of leptospirosis in Chennai city, India.

Abstract

Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease, it occurs worldwide but is most common in tropical and subtropical countries. The magnitude of the problem varies from community to community. The serovars which cause the disease in a community change with adaptation to a new maintenance host and is epidemiologically important. Aims and Objectives: To determine the seroprevalence of leptospirosis in Chennai city. To identify the prevalent serovar in Chennai causing leptospirosis by using gold standard test Microscopic Agglutination Test (MAT). Methods: 1209 patients from Chennai, with fever of one-week duration and with signs and symptoms of Leptospirosis were the study population and were screened for Leptospirosis by Macroscopic Slide Agglutination Test (MSAT). The positive samples by MSAT were tested for the prevalent serovar and for confirmation by MAT and the results were analyzed statistically. Result: The seroprevalence of Leptospirosis is 17.8%. The prevalent serovar circulating in Chennai is L. grippotyphosa. Conclusion: Laboratory diagnosis is essential to confirm the current illness, and for epidemiological and public health reasons, namely to determine which serovar caused the infection, the likely source of infection and the potential reservoir and its location. This helps in control strategies.