Abstract :
Objectives: Leptospirosis is a potentially life-threatening zoonotic disease of worldwide distribution.
Accurate diagnosis and prompt treatment are essential to minimize morbidity and mortality. The current
study was conducted to analyse the clinical profile of leptospirosis and the diagnostic yield of various
diagnostic methods.
Materials and Methods: The present study was a cross-sectional study. A total of 60 patients who were suspected
of leptospirosis were enrolled in the study. Direct examination of blood was done using dark-ground
microscopy, the culture was done by inoculation of the blood sample into the EMJH medium, antibodies
against Leptospira was demonstrated using Panbio IgM ELISA kit, and antigen products were demonstrated
using polymerase reaction (PCR) with primers G1and G2.
Results: The study population included 63% of males and 37% females. A majority of 38% of the study
subjects were farmers. Pallor and icterus are the predominant clinical signs found among 96% of the study
population. IgM ELISA has labelled the highest number i.e. 55 (91.66%) of subjects as positive. The
number of subjects diagnosed positive by PCR, culture and Dark ground microscopy (DGM) were 33
(55.00%), 22 (36.66%) and 12 (20%) subjects respectively.
Conclusion: Leptospirosis proves to be an important health concern. Prominent clinical conditions were
observed. IgM-ELISA proved superior to Dark ground microscopy (DGM), Culture and Polymerase chain
reaction (PCR) and suitable for early diagnosis of leptospirosis.
Keyword :
Leptospirosis, Darkground microscopy, Culture, IgM ELISA, Polymerase chain reaction.