title: Serological & molecular approaches for diagnosis of leptospirosis in a tertiary care hospital in north India: a 10-year study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Leptospirosis, a spirochetal zoonosis, is underreported from the northern States of India. This study reports results of a 10-year retrospective sero-epidemiological survey of leptospirosis conducted in a tertiary care hospital in New Delhi, India.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 1453 patients clinically suspected for leptospirosis were included and investigated initially by IgM ELISA. A proportion of these were subjected to culture, microscopic agglutination test (MAT) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 1453 patients, 391 (26.90%) were positive serologically by IgM ELISA. Seropositive and seronegative patients revealed no significant difference in clinical features and laboratory parameters. Amongst the IgM seropositive cases, culture for leptospires was positive in 5 of 192 (2.6%), MAT in 50 of 138 (36.23%), PCR from blood and urine in 10 of 115 (8.7%) and 10 of 38 (26.31%) cases, respectively. In Leptospira spp. positive patients co-infections with viral hepatitis E, malaria and dengue fever were diagnosed in 27 cases.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The overall seropositivity for leptospirosis was 26.9 per cent in our study. A decreasing trend in seropositivity was observed in recent years. Co-infections with malaria, dengue, hepatitis A and E were also seen. Since leptospirosis is a treatable disease, correct and rapid diagnosis may help in effective management of patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India. ramach003@yahoo.com
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chaudhry
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Das
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Premlatha
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Choudhary
authors.forename: B K
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Chourasia
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Chandel
authors.forename: A B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Dey
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000372:Agglutination Tests; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002648:Child; D060085:Coinfection / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology; D003715:Dengue / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000097:blood; D007194:India; D007919:Leptospira / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D007922:Leptospirosis / Q000097:blood* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012703:Serotyping; D063128:Tertiary Health Care
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D007075:Immunoglobulin M