Exposure Status and Risky Activities of Leptospirosis Patients Admitted to the Secondary and Tertiary Level Government Hospitals in Southern Province Sri Lanka

Abstract

Background: Leptospirosis is a deadly disease transmitted through water. This can be transmitted to the man directly through a skin lesion, a cut, mucous membranes or through a wound. A noticeable increment of deaths has been reported during the past years especially in Southern province, Sri Lanka according to the previous statistics. Objectives: To identify the exposure status and risk activities of leptospirosis patients admitted to the secondary and tertiary level government hospitals in Southern province Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional, multi-centered study was carried out in secondary and tertiary level government hospitals in Southern province (11 hospitals), Sri Lanka. Convenient sampling method was used to recruit study participants. Inward patients managed and diagnosed as leptospirosis, currently resident in Hambantota, Matara, Galle districts, and above 14 years of age were included. An interviewer-administered questionnaire was administered to collect data. Descriptive statistics and Chi-squared test were used to analyse data. Results: In total 211 patients diagnosed with leptospirosis were reported. Mean age (±SD) of the sample was 43.7(±15.66) and majority was male predominantly. Most of the participants did not engage in any formal employment (unemployed) 41(19.4%). A considerable number of participants were engaged in paddy farming (n=37, 17.5 %) and manual labourer work (n=22, 10.4%). The most possible exposure was "walking on wet soil/mud/marshy land" without footwear (58.3%) and also, a significant number of patients (n=44, 20.9%) was exposed to flood. The highest risky activity identified among the sample was part time paddy farming (n=75, 35.5%) as a place where leptospirosis transmission occurs. Also engaged in part time cinnamon cultivation was a significant risk activity (n=31, 14.7%). According to the results, there is no statistically proven association (p>0.05) between clinical presentation and possible exposures . Conclusions: Engaged in part time paddy farming and expose to flood were identified as high-risk activities and walking on wet/ soil/ marshy lands without protective boots is the riskiest exposure. Proper awareness targeting risk exposure groups is recommended to prevent the disease specially in high-risk areas. Keywords: Exposure status, Leptospirosis, Risky activities, Sri Lanka 56