Identification of leptospirosis cases in patients with clinical suspicion of dengue in the city of São Paulo, Brazil

Abstract

Dengue and leptospirosis are endemic diseases in Brazil, and their diagnosis is challenging especially because most of the clinical signs are common to both diseases. This difficulty occurs especially in areas where there is a high incidence of dengue, which can lead to an overestimated viral infection perception, and the consequent low suspicion of leptospirosis. This project aims to retrospectively investigate the occurrence of leptospirosis cases among patients with clinical suspicion of dengue through analysis of blood serum samples using serological and molecular methods.The main result expected by this project is to estimate the underreporting rate of cases of human leptospirosis in the city of São Paulo. Other results yearn by the project are, through spatial analysis, identify which regions have the highest rates of disease underdiagnosis, to identify the infectious leptospires, compare the lethality among the underdiagnosed patients with the group of leptospirosis cases notified by SINAN and to produce dissemination material for continuing education with focus on health professionals in primary care services, working in regions with the highest rates of underreporting.