Global Burden of Leptospirosis: Estimated in Terms of Disability Adjusted Life Years.
- Torgerson PR Section of Epidemiology, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland.
- Hagan JE Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Ministério da Saúde, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil; Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America.
- Costa F Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Ministério da Saúde, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil; Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America; Institute of Collective Health, Federal University of Bahia (UFBA), Salvador, Brazil.
- Calcagno J Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Ministério da Saúde, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.
- Kane M Center for Analytical Sciences, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America.
- Martinez-Silveira MS Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Ministério da Saúde, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.
- Goris MG WHO/FAO/OIE and National Leptospirosis Reference Center, Royal Tropical Institute, KIT Biomedical Research, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
- Stein C Division of Information, Evidence, Research and Innovation (DIR), World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe, Copenhagen, Denmark.
- Ko AI Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Ministério da Saúde, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil; Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America.
- Abela-Ridder B Department for the Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases, World Health Organization, Genève, Switzerland.
- 2015-10-03
Published in:
- PLoS neglected tropical diseases. - 2015
Cost of Illness
Disability Evaluation
Female
Global Health
Humans
Leptospirosis
Male
Quality-Adjusted Life Years
Uncertainty
English
BACKGROUND
Leptospirosis, a spirochaetal zoonosis, occurs in diverse epidemiological settings and affects vulnerable populations, such as rural subsistence farmers and urban slum dwellers. Although leptospirosis can cause life-threatening disease, there is no global burden of disease estimate in terms of Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) available.
METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS
We utilised the results of a parallel publication that reported global estimates of morbidity and mortality due to leptospirosis. We estimated Years of Life Lost (YLLs) from age and gender stratified mortality rates. Years of Life with Disability (YLDs) were developed from a simple disease model indicating likely sequelae. DALYs were estimated from the sum of YLLs and YLDs. The study suggested that globally approximately 2.90 million DALYs are lost per annum (UIs 1.25-4.54 million) from the approximately annual 1.03 million cases reported previously. Males are predominantly affected with an estimated 2.33 million DALYs (UIs 0.98-3.69) or approximately 80% of the total burden. For comparison, this is over 70% of the global burden of cholera estimated by GBD 2010. Tropical regions of South and South-east Asia, Western Pacific, Central and South America, and Africa had the highest estimated leptospirosis disease burden.
CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE
Leptospirosis imparts a significant health burden worldwide, which approach or exceed those encountered for a number of other zoonotic and neglected tropical diseases. The study findings indicate that highest burden estimates occur in resource-poor tropical countries, which include regions of Africa where the burden of leptospirosis has been under-appreciated and possibly misallocated to other febrile illnesses such as malaria.
Leptospirosis, a spirochaetal zoonosis, occurs in diverse epidemiological settings and affects vulnerable populations, such as rural subsistence farmers and urban slum dwellers. Although leptospirosis can cause life-threatening disease, there is no global burden of disease estimate in terms of Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) available.
METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS
We utilised the results of a parallel publication that reported global estimates of morbidity and mortality due to leptospirosis. We estimated Years of Life Lost (YLLs) from age and gender stratified mortality rates. Years of Life with Disability (YLDs) were developed from a simple disease model indicating likely sequelae. DALYs were estimated from the sum of YLLs and YLDs. The study suggested that globally approximately 2.90 million DALYs are lost per annum (UIs 1.25-4.54 million) from the approximately annual 1.03 million cases reported previously. Males are predominantly affected with an estimated 2.33 million DALYs (UIs 0.98-3.69) or approximately 80% of the total burden. For comparison, this is over 70% of the global burden of cholera estimated by GBD 2010. Tropical regions of South and South-east Asia, Western Pacific, Central and South America, and Africa had the highest estimated leptospirosis disease burden.
CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE
Leptospirosis imparts a significant health burden worldwide, which approach or exceed those encountered for a number of other zoonotic and neglected tropical diseases. The study findings indicate that highest burden estimates occur in resource-poor tropical countries, which include regions of Africa where the burden of leptospirosis has been under-appreciated and possibly misallocated to other febrile illnesses such as malaria.
- Language
-
- English
- Open access status
- gold
- Identifiers
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- DOI 10.1371/journal.pntd.0004122
- PMID 26431366
- Persistent URL
- https://sonar.ch/global/documents/168701
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