Volume : VIII, Issue : V, May - 2019

Leptospirosis in Kerala: Importance of Suspected Cases in Surveillance

Nabil A

Abstract :

Leptospirosis is considered as the most widespread zoonotic disease reported in the world. The disease is endemic in many sub-tropical and tropical developing countries. In India, states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andaman and Nicobar, Karnataka, Gujarat, and Maharashtra are endemic to leptospirosis. Most of the Indian states have reported leptospirosis over the period of time in multiple epidemiological forms of sporadic to mini-epidemic to endemic with epidemic potential. The state of Kerala has reported human leptospirosis since the late 1980s and is endemic to the disease for three decades. Surveillance system for reporting and monitoring the disease exists in the state from the late 1990s, even though multiple gaps were acknowledged. After 2006, among IDSP reported diseases, leptospirosis has caused the maximum mortality over the years. The current monitoring system in Kerala, do reporting of suspected and confirmed cases (laboratory-confirmed) separately from the year 2011onwards, to ing in more inclusive data to understand the actual burden of the disease. But the study conducted in Kerala has observed that all the current strategies and interventions are based on the prevalence of monitored confirmed cases; though suspected cases are causing high morbidity and mortality over the years. The paper tries to elaborate the reasons of why suspected cases are critical in analyzing the actual disease burden in the state of Kerala, and need for interventions based on the suspected leptospirosis cases in the health service system.

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Article: Download PDF    DOI : https://www.doi.org/10.36106/gjra  

Cite This Article:

LEPTOSPIROSIS IN KERALA: IMPORTANCE OF SUSPECTED CASES IN SURVEILLANCE, Nabil A GLOBAL JOURNAL FOR RESEARCH ANALYSIS : Volume-8 | Issue-5 | May-2019

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