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Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2018 Jul;99(1):127-135. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.18-0020. Epub 2018 May 10.

Leptospirosis among Returned Travelers: A GeoSentinel Site Survey and Multicenter Analysis-1997-2016.

Author information

1
Center for Tropical Medicine and Travel Medicine, Academic Medical Center (AMC), University of Amsterdam (UvA), Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
2
Travelers' Health Branch, Division of Global Migration and Quarantine, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, Georgia.
3
Department of Medical Microbiology, Leptospirosis Reference Center, Academic Medical Center (AMC), University of Amsterdam (UvA), Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
4
Department of Clinical Sciences, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium.
5
Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
6
Travel Medicine Center, Mount Auburn Hospital, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
7
Institute of Public Health, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
8
Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University Singapore, Singapore.
9
School of Medicine Global Health Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California.
10
CMETE Travel clinic, Paris, France.
11
Service des Maladies Infectieuses et Tropicales, Hôpital d'Instruction des Armées Bégin, Paris, France.
12
Victorian Infectious Disease Service, Royal Melbourne Hospital at the Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Melbourne, Australia.
13
School of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.
14
Service des Maladies Infectieuses et Tropicales, Hôpital Pitié-Salpêtrière, Sorbonne Université, Paris, France.
15
Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
16
Department of Internal Medicine "C", The Center of Geographical Medicine, Sheba Medical Center, Tel HaShomer, Ramat Gan, Israel.
17
Division of Infectious Diseases, Geographic Medicine Center, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.
18
Department of Global Health, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, Maryland.
19
Institute of Tropical Medicine, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.

Abstract

Leptospirosis is a potentially fatal emerging zoonosis with worldwide distribution and a broad range of clinical presentations and exposure risks. It typically affects vulnerable populations in (sub)tropical countries but is increasingly reported in travelers as well. Diagnostic methods are cumbersome and require further improvement. Here, we describe leptospirosis among travelers presenting to the GeoSentinel Global Surveillance Network. We performed a descriptive analysis of leptospirosis cases reported in GeoSentinel from January 1997 through December 2016. We included 180 travelers with leptospirosis (mostly male; 74%; mostly tourists; 81%). The most frequent region of infection was Southeast Asia (52%); the most common source countries were Thailand (N = 52), Costa Rica (N = 13), Indonesia, and Laos (N = 11 each). Fifty-nine percent were hospitalized; one fatality was reported. We also distributed a supplemental survey to GeoSentinel sites to assess clinical and diagnostic practices. Of 56 GeoSentinel sites, three-quarters responded to the survey. Leptospirosis was reported to have been most frequently considered in febrile travelers with hepatic and renal abnormalities and a history of freshwater exposure. Serology was the most commonly used diagnostic method, although convalescent samples were reported to have been collected infrequently. Within GeoSentinel, leptospirosis was diagnosed mostly among international tourists and caused serious illness. Clinical suspicion and diagnostic workup among surveyed GeoSentinel clinicians were mainly triggered by a classical presentation and exposure history, possibly resulting in underdiagnosis. Suboptimal usage of available diagnostic methods may have resulted in additional missed, or misdiagnosed, cases.

PMID:
29761761
PMCID:
PMC6085784
[Available on 2019-07-01]
DOI:
10.4269/ajtmh.18-0020

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