Objective:

Describe the epidemiology of Leptospirosis in the department of Huila during the years 2011 to 2017.

Materials and methods:

This article is a descriptive, cross-sectional, retrospective study. The population analyzed were patients from the different municipalities of the department of Huila who were reported as probable or confirmed cases for leptospirosis, structuring records for each year in databases compiled by the epidemiology area of ​​the department's health secretary, based on the public health surveillance notification sheets for leptospirosis, and generated by each Primary Data Generating Unit (UPGD) in the presence of the event; The data were discriminated according to the variables of interest for the study in a new database in Excel; tabulated with the statistical program R - Studio 3.3.3 and Epidat 4.2, to later be processed with descriptive statistics and finally expressed in percentages and incidence rates.

Results:

268 cases were reported, which 61 (23%) were confirmed by laboratory and 207 (77%) suspicious or probable. 69% of the patients presented fever, myalgia and headache as representative symptoms. The most affected group range in ages from 27 and 59 (44%). The population was characterized for being part of the urban area (65%), and the cases were more frequent in men (72%). Regarding to employment, it was found that farmers (20%) and the cleaning staff (17%) were the most common cases. The risk factors identified were the presence of domestic animals in 67% of the cases, as well as the presence of rats at home (51%) and the possible poor water management.

Conclusions:

The increase in the number of cases of Leptospirosis is probably associated with the poor water management and the presence of animals at home.

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