title: Analysis of hospital-based sentinel surveillance data on leptospirosis in Sri Lanka, 2005-2008.
abstract: In Sri Lanka, leptospirosis is a notifiable disease. In addition to having a  routine disease reporting system, Sri Lanka has implemented a hospital-based sentinel surveillance  system since 2004. This report discusses the findings of a descriptive analysis of the sentinel  surveillance data collected from 2005 to 2008. Of the 4,000 suspected leptospirosis cases, 46.9%  and 26.8% were recorded from the Western and Sabaragamuwa provinces, respectively. Most of the  individuals were male (83.5%), and approximately 45.6% were aged 30-49 years. Farmers accounted  for 16.5%, and laborers for 16.1%; however, the occupation of nearly half (44.8%) of the study  population was unknown. More than half (53.9%) of the individuals worked in paddy fields. Almost  all had acute fever (98.8%), myalgia (92.9%), and headache (92.7%), but fewer had other related  symptoms. Out of the 4,000 individuals, 2,496 (62.4%) underwent a laboratory test; however, the  laboratory test results of only 1,445 (57.9%) and the microscopic agglutination results of 41  (2.8%) were available at the sentinel sites. Less than 2% of the reported individuals underwent  prophylactic treatment. These findings will help enhance the ongoing efforts for controlling and  preventing leptospirosis in Sri Lanka. Sentinel surveillance is a useful tool, but the data  quality needs to be improved by supplementing the findings with adequate laboratory diagnosis  data.
authors.affiliation: Department of Global Health & Epidemiology, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo 060-8638, Japan.
authors.forename: Chandika D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Gamage
authors.forename: Jagath
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Amarasekera
authors.forename: Paba
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Palihawadana
authors.forename: Sudath
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Samaraweera
authors.forename: Devika
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mendis
authors.forename: Navaratnasingam
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Janakan
authors.forename: Romeo B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Yoshihide
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Obayashi
authors.forename: Hiko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tamashiro
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D018890:Chemoprevention / Q000379:methods; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D007922:Leptospirosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016273:Occupational Exposure; D018571:Sentinel Surveillance; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013188:Sri Lanka / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult