Seroepidemiology of human leptospirosis in the Dominican Republic: A multistage cluster survey, 2021

by Eric J. Nilles, Cecilia Then Paulino, Renee Galloway, Michael de St. Aubin, Helen J. Mayfield, Angela Cadavid Restrepo, Devan Dumas, Salome Garnier, Marie Caroline Etienne, William Duke, Farah Peña, Naomi Iihoshi, Gabriela Abdalla, Beatriz Lopez, Lucia de la Cruz, Bernarda Henríquez, Kara Durski, Margaret Baldwin, Gideon Loevinsohn, Eleanor M. Rees, Beatris Martin, Benn Sartorius, Ronald Skewes-Ramm, Emily Zielinski Gutiérrez, Adam Kucharski, Colleen L. Lau

Little is known about the epidemiology of leptospirosis in the Dominican Republic, the second most populous country in the Caribbean. We report on findings from a multi-stage household survey across two regions in the country that reveals a previously under-estimated burden of human Leptospira infection. Our findings, based on the reference-standard microscopic agglutination test, indicate a complex picture of serogroup diversity, spatial heterogeneity in infection and risk, and a marked discrepancy between reported cases and serologically estimated infections. Given an overall seroprevalence of 11.3% (95% CI: 10.8–13.0%) and a lower estimated force of infection (0.30% per year [0.27%–0.35%]) the number of infections may exceed national reported case data by 145-fold or more. Icterohaemorrhagiae, associated with severe Weil’s disease, was the most commonly identified serogroup with a serogroup-specific prevalence of 4.4%. Consistent with other settings, risk factors including age, male sex, and rat exposure were associated with higher seroprevalence. Our study highlights the need for targeted public health interventions informed by serogroup-specific dynamics, detailed spatial analyses, knowledge of local animal reservoirs, and strengthened laboratory surveillance to effectively control this pathogen.