Leptospirosis as a Cause of Fever in Urban Bangladesh

Emily A. Kendall Division of Infectious Diseases, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia; International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Mohakhali, Dhaka, Bangladesh

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Regina C. LaRocque Division of Infectious Diseases, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia; International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Mohakhali, Dhaka, Bangladesh

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Duy M. Bui Division of Infectious Diseases, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia; International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Mohakhali, Dhaka, Bangladesh

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Renee Galloway Division of Infectious Diseases, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia; International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Mohakhali, Dhaka, Bangladesh

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Mary D. Ari Division of Infectious Diseases, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia; International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Mohakhali, Dhaka, Bangladesh

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Doli Goswami Division of Infectious Diseases, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia; International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Mohakhali, Dhaka, Bangladesh

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Robert F. Breiman Division of Infectious Diseases, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia; International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Mohakhali, Dhaka, Bangladesh

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Stephen Luby Division of Infectious Diseases, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia; International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Mohakhali, Dhaka, Bangladesh

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W. Abdullah Brooks Division of Infectious Diseases, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia; International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Mohakhali, Dhaka, Bangladesh

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We tested paired sera from 584 febrile persons in an low-income urban community in Bangladesh for evidence of Leptospira infection. A total of 8.4% of the persons met criteria for definite or probable infection. Persons with leptospirosis were older than those with undifferentiated fever in this population. The dominant infecting serogroups in Bangladesh differed from serogroups commonly reported in nearby regions.

Author Notes

*Address correspondence to Emily A. Kendall, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, 201 Light Hall, Nashville, TN 37232. E-mail: e.a.kendall@vanderbilt.edu
†These authors contributed equally to this article.

Financial support: This study was supported by the National Institutes of Health (U01-AI58935 and GR-00100, K01 TW07144 to Regina C. LaRocque, and R24 TW007988 to Emily A. Kendall), by a cooperative agreement from the U.S. Agency for International Development (HRN-A-00-96-90005-00), and by core donors to the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh: Centre for Health and Population Research. The funding sources had no involvement in the study design, interpretation, or decision to publish.

Authors' addresses: Emily A. Kendall, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, E-mail: e.a.kendall@vanderbilt.edu. Regina C. LaRocque, Division of Infectious Diseases, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, E-mail: rclarocque@partners.org. Duy M. Bui and Renee Galloway, Zoonotic and Select Agent Laboratory, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, E-mails: gum8@cdc.gov and zul0@cdc.gov. Mary D. Ari, Office of the Chief Science Officer, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, E-mail: mari@cdc.gov. Doli Goswami, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Mohakhali, Dhaka, Bangladesh, E-mail: drdolly@icddrb.org. Robert F. Breiman, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention–Kenya Medical Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya. Stephen Luby, Programme on Infectious Diseases and Vaccine Sciences, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Mohakhali, Dhaka, Bangladesh, E-mail: sluby@icddrb.org. W. Abdullah Brooks, Health Systems Infectious Diseases Division, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Mohakhali, Dhaka, Bangladesh, E-mail: abrooks@icddrb.org.

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