Estudio serológico de la infección por Leptospira spp. en profesionales veterinarios del cantón Loja

Abstract

Abstract:Leptospirosis is a zoonosis caused by bacteria of the genus Leptospira Leptospira (OIE, 2021b). It is an underdiagnosed and underreported disease due to asymptomatic cases in endemic areas or with unspecific clinical conditions and, in recent years, due to the priority of health care for Covid-19 (Karpagam & Ganesh, 2020a). Due to the characteristics of the disease, veterinarians are a risk group. The aim of the study was to estimate the frequency of infection by Leptospira spp and the associated factors in veterinarians of the Loja canton. Sixty-six people were considered for the study, therefore veterinarians underwent to immunodiagnosis by ELISA and MAT (which also allows establishing the infecting serovar), likewise, a survey was applied to establish associated factors (gender, age, time of professional practice, type of professional activities, type of animal species with which it is related, and specific situations of exposure). Four professionals (6.06%) had a positive diagnosis for serovars such as Grippotyphosa, Castellonis, and Copenhagenni, which demonstrates an interaction between wild, domestic, and human species. None of the variables were risk factors (p>0.05)