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Prevalencia de leptospirosis en humanos en la zona urbana del municipio de Puerto Libertador, Córdoba, Colombia
Authors: Heidy Rodríguez Barreto, Carlos Lozano Montoya, Carlos Bedoya Sánchez & Leonardo Grondona Paternina
Number of views: 316
The objective of this research was to determine the prevalence of leptospirosis in
humans in the urban area in Puerto Libertador, Cordoba, in the Caribean region of Colombia. In
august 2007, we used a cross-sectional epidemiological study. We included serum samples from 78
individuals and general information (occupation, exposure to contaminated sources such as water
or animals). We analyzed those samples through microscopic agglutination test (MAT) with six
serovars of Leptospira. Anti-Leptospira antibodies were found in 67.9% of the sample, in patients
older than 20 years, with no significant differences in the sex variable. Among six serovars tested,
the antibody titers were high, especially L. icterohaemorragiae. The high prevalence of serovars in
humans in the urban area in Puerto Libertador suggests frequent transmission of leptospires, whish
is relatedto the presence of rats or mice in homes, outdoors and cisterns of slack water channels.