Leptospirosis in patients from Grenada, West Indies

ABSTRACT

Evidence of leptospirosis in humans from Grenada, W.I., is reported here for the first time. Of 139 hospital patients with pyrexia of undetermined origin, 94 were jaundiced, and 16 (17 percent) of these were positive for hepatitis B antigen (HBsAg) and not examined further. 20 of the remaining 123 (16 percent) febrile patients were positive for leptospiral antibodies; 11 of them were current or recent cases. 25 of 182 (14 percent) afebrile out-patients showed evidence of previous exposure to leptospiral organisms. The most frequently encountered serogroups in the 45 seropositive in- and out- patients were Icterohaemorrhagiae (38 percent) Panama (24 percent) and Canicola (11 percent) (Summary)