Leptospirosis in Wardha District, Central India—Analysis of hospital based surveillance data

Abstract Hospital-based surveillance of zoonotic diseases was carried out at a tertiary care hospital located in semi-arid zone in Central India. Here, we report descriptive epidemiology and climatic determinants of leptospirosis. All patients presenting with fever of 5days and more were included in the study. We interviewed the subject to obtain data on socio-demographics. Blood samples were collected and IgM ELISA was carried out to diagnose leptospirosis. Microscopic agglutination test was performed at National Leptospirosis Reference Centre, Port Blair. Data on climatic conditions was obtained from Indian Meteorology Department and National Centre for Environmental Prediction. Time-series Poisson Regression analysis was carried out to study the climatic determinants. We found 12.7% of the study subjects positive for leptospirosis by IgM ELISA. Positivity was maximum (17.1%) in 41–60 years of age, more females were affected than males (14% vs 11.5%). Farm workers were affected more (17.2%) than non-farm workers performing service, business, household work etc. (10.9%). Positivity was more in monsoon as compared to other seasons. We found a single large hot cluster of leptospirosis in the middle of the district. Relative humidity in the month and rainfall in the previous month was the significant determinants of leptospirosis.