Leptospirosis: recent incidents and available diagnostics – a review
- Author:
Yuszniahyati Yaakob
;
Kenneth Francis Rodrigues
;
Daisy Vanitha John
- Publication Type:Letter
- Keywords:
Leptospira;
Leptospirosis;
diagnosis;
treatment;
prevention
- From:
The Medical Journal of Malaysia
2015;70(6):351-355
- CountryMalaysia
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
Objective: The aim of this article was to review published
research articles on leptospirosis, in particular the recent
incidence of leptospirosis in Malaysia and the currently
available diagnostic methods for the detection of
leptospirosis.
Methods: PubMed, Google Scholar and Google Search
databases were searched using the key words Leptospira
and leptospirosis. A total of seventy-six references were
reviewed including sixty-seven research articles, three
annual reports from Ministry of Health and six online
newspaper articles. This review includes the following five
sub-headings: introduction, leptospirosis transmission,
leptospirosis incidents, laboratory diagnosis of
leptospirosis and treatment and prevention of leptospirosis.
Results: An increase in incidents of leptospirosis cases has
been seen in recent years in Malaysia. The recent floods
have contributed to the rise in the number of reported cases.
Current diagnostic approaches such as dark field
microscopy, microscopic agglutination test (MAT),
Polymerase chain reaction and serological tests are
inadequate as the organism is a slow grower.
Conclusion: There is an urgent need to develop newer
techniques for rapid detection of leptospirosis. The
combination of PCR and ELISA are suggested for rapid and
accurate diagnosis of leptospirosis. Studies on the
mechanism of pathogenesis of Leptospira are needed for
the development of vaccines that are safe for human use.
- Full text:P020160224455416224652.pdf
