TY - JOUR
T1 - Leptospirosis in the Asia Pacific region
AU - Victoriano, Ann Florence B
AU - Smythe, Lee D
AU - Gloriani-Barzaga, Nina
AU - Cavinta, Lolita L
AU - Kasai, Takeshi
AU - Limpakarnjanarat, Khanchit
AU - Ong, Bee Lee
AU - Gongal, Gyanendra
AU - Hall, Julie
AU - Coulombe, Caroline Anne
AU - Yanagihara, Yasutake
AU - Yoshida, Shin-ichi
AU - Adler, Ben
PY - 2009
Y1 - 2009
N2 - BACKGROUND: Leptospirosis is a worldwide zoonotic infection that has been recognized for decades, but the problem of the disease has not been fully addressed, particularly in resource-poor, developing countries, where the major burden of the disease occurs. This paper presents an overview of the current situation of leptospirosis in the region. It describes the current trends in the epidemiology of leptospirosis, the existing surveillance systems, and presents the existing prevention and control programs in the Asia Pacific region. METHODS: Data on leptospirosis in each member country were sought from official national organizations, international public health organizations, online articles and the scientific literature. Papers were reviewed and relevant data were extracted. RESULTS: Leptospirosis is highly prevalent in the Asia Pacific region. Infections in developed countries arise mainly from occupational exposure, travel to endemic areas, recreational activities, or importation of domestic and wild animals, whereas outbreaks in developing countries are most frequently related to normal daily activities, over-crowding, poor sanitation and climatic conditions. CONCLUSION: In the Asia Pacific region, predominantly in developing countries, leptospirosis is largely a water-borne disease. Unless interventions to minimize exposure are aggressively implemented, the current global climate change will further aggravate the extent of the disease problem. Although trends indicate successful control of leptospirosis in some areas, there is no clear evidence that the disease has decreased in the last decade. The efficiency of surveillance systems and data collection varies significantly among the countries and areas within the region, leading to incomplete information in some instances. Thus, an accurate reflection of the true burden of the disease remains unknown.
AB - BACKGROUND: Leptospirosis is a worldwide zoonotic infection that has been recognized for decades, but the problem of the disease has not been fully addressed, particularly in resource-poor, developing countries, where the major burden of the disease occurs. This paper presents an overview of the current situation of leptospirosis in the region. It describes the current trends in the epidemiology of leptospirosis, the existing surveillance systems, and presents the existing prevention and control programs in the Asia Pacific region. METHODS: Data on leptospirosis in each member country were sought from official national organizations, international public health organizations, online articles and the scientific literature. Papers were reviewed and relevant data were extracted. RESULTS: Leptospirosis is highly prevalent in the Asia Pacific region. Infections in developed countries arise mainly from occupational exposure, travel to endemic areas, recreational activities, or importation of domestic and wild animals, whereas outbreaks in developing countries are most frequently related to normal daily activities, over-crowding, poor sanitation and climatic conditions. CONCLUSION: In the Asia Pacific region, predominantly in developing countries, leptospirosis is largely a water-borne disease. Unless interventions to minimize exposure are aggressively implemented, the current global climate change will further aggravate the extent of the disease problem. Although trends indicate successful control of leptospirosis in some areas, there is no clear evidence that the disease has decreased in the last decade. The efficiency of surveillance systems and data collection varies significantly among the countries and areas within the region, leading to incomplete information in some instances. Thus, an accurate reflection of the true burden of the disease remains unknown.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/record/display.url?eid=2-s2.0-70349952442&origin=inward&txGid=_PH75ciqysDOMfcY-6UYrha%3a60
U2 - 10.1186/1471-2334-9-147
DO - 10.1186/1471-2334-9-147
M3 - Article
VL - 9
SP - 1
EP - 9
JO - BMC Infectious Diseases
JF - BMC Infectious Diseases
SN - 1471-2334
IS - 147
ER -