Volume 13, Number 10—October 2007
Dispatch
Using Death Certificate Reports to Find Severe Leptospirosis Cases, Brazil
Anne Spichler, Daniel Athanazio‡, Marcia Buzzar*, Bronislawa Castro*, Erica Chapolla§, Antonio Seguro†, and Joseph M. Vinetz¶
Table
Data from death notification reports in the São Paulo, Brazil, metropolitan area, January 2004–August 2006
| Data from reports | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total no. reported leptospirosis cases | 285 | 262 | 167 |
| Annual incidence per 100,000 inhabitants | 2.7 | 2.4 | 1.7 |
| Fatality rate, % | 15 | 11 | 18 |
| Total no. deaths | 42 | 28 | 31 |
| Fatal cases | |||
| Laboratory confirmed, no. (%) | 28 (67) | 17 (60) | 17 (55) |
| Clinical and epidemiologically assessed, no. (%) | 14 (33) | 11 (40) | 14 (45) |
| Total no. necropsies (%) | 14/42 (33) | 15/28 (53) | 13/31 (41) |
| Frequency of concurrent Weil syndrome and pulmonary hemorrhage, no. (%) | 12/14 (86) | 10/15 (67) | 9/13 (69) |
| Frequency of Weil syndrome without pulmonary hemorrhage, no. (%) | 1/14 (7) | 4/15 (27) | 3/13 (23) |
| Frequency of pulmonary hemorrhage, no. (%) | 1/14 (7) | 1/15 (6) | 1/13 (8) |
