Abstract

PEDRAZA, Adriana María et al. Serum prevalence of anti-Leptospira antibodies in workers from animal sacrifice centers in Boyacá, Colombia. Infect. [online]. 2012, vol.16, n.1, pp.30-36. ISSN 0123-9392.

Objective: To assess the serum prevalence of Leptospira spp. in workers from five centers for animal sacrifice in the department of Boyacá (Sogamoso, Chiquinquirá, Paipa, Aquitania and Tuta). Materials and methods: An observational, descriptive, cross sectional study was carried out. We took serum samples from 80 workers at the sacrifice plants at five municipalities of the department of Boyacá. Laboratory analysis was done by microagglutination technique (MAT), searching for antibodies against several serovars of Leptospira spp. We considered a reaction positive, if 50% or more leptospiras agglutinated or lysed their membranes, taking as reference the positive control. Furthermore, we applied a survey to each worker to explore the presence of risk factors associated with a positive test. Results: The global serum positive percentage by MAT test was 35.0% (n=28). The discriminated serum positivity test, by serovar was: 41.67% (n=15) for serovar Hardjo, 38.9% (n=14) for Bratislava, 8.33 (n=3) for Icterohaemorragiae, 5.56% (n=2) for Canicola, 2.78% (n=1) for Pomona, and the other 2.78% (n=1) was identified as serovar Grippotyphosa. Conclusion: We found a high prevalence in the levels of anti-Leptospira antibodies in the samples of the workers evaluated, so we suggest emphasizing the protection standards and focusing on preventive and health promotion norms.

Keywords : Leptospirosis; serum-epidemiologic study; occupational health; endemic diseases; zoonosis.

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