Absence of epidemicity of severe leptospirosis in Barbados

The possibility of micro-epidemics of severe leptospirosis occurring on the island of Barbados was investigated by examining the space-time clustering of the disease in 212 laboratory-confirmed cases admitted to Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Bridgetown, over a 7-year period. A series of 109 patients wit...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Epidemiology and infection 1991-02, Vol.106 (1), p.151-156
Main Authors: Bennett, S., Everard, C. O. R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Antibodies
Bacterial diseases
Barbados - epidemiology
Biological and medical sciences
Cluster Analysis
Disease Outbreaks
Epidemiology
General aspects
Humans
Infections
Infectious diseases
Leptospira
Leptospirosis
Leptospirosis - epidemiology
Medical sciences
Place of residence
Soil water
Spacetime
Statistical significance
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Summary:The possibility of micro-epidemics of severe leptospirosis occurring on the island of Barbados was investigated by examining the space-time clustering of the disease in 212 laboratory-confirmed cases admitted to Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Bridgetown, over a 7-year period. A series of 109 patients with symptoms compatible with leptospirosis but shown to be otherwise by laboratory examination were also examined for comparison. No significant space-time clustering was found among the leptospirosis cases, indicating no evidence for micro-epidemics. By comparison, statistically significant clustering was apparent among the smaller non-leptospirosis series. Possible explanations for the absence of observed micro-epidemics of leptospirosis are discussed.
ISSN:0950-2688
1469-4409
DOI:10.1017/S095026880005651X