Increase of leptospirosis in dengue-negative patients after a hurricane in Puerto Rico in 1996 [correction of 1966]

Journal article

Leptospirosis has rarely been reported in Puerto Rico, although in the period from 1948 to 1952, 208 cases of leptospirosis and an island-wide seroprevalence of antibody to Leptospira of 14% were documented. In Puerto Rico in October 1996, following rainfall and a period of flooding generated by Hurricane Hortense, serum specimens of 4 patients with suspected dengue fever that were negative for dengue tested positive for Leptospira-specific IgM antibodies in a dipstick assay. Subsequently, we...

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Authors: Sanders, E; Rigau-Pérez, J; Smits, H; Deseda, C; Vorndam, V

• Publication status: Published
• Journal: American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene
• Volume: 61
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 399-404
• Publication date: 1999-09-01
• EISSN: 1476-1645
• ISSN: 0002-9637
• Language: English
• Keywords: Antibodies, Bacterial; Leptospirosis; Immunoglobulin M; Population Surveillance; Female; Antibodies, Viral; Adult; Middle Aged; Male; Leptospira interrogans; Dengue; Humans; Adolescent; Puerto Rico; Disasters; Dengue Virus