Leptospirosis in “Eco-Challenge” Athletes, Malaysian Borneo, 2000

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Emerg Infect Dis
• Personal Author:
  Sejvar, James ; Bancroft, Elizabeth ; Winthrop, Kevin ; Bettinger, Julie ; Bajani, Mary ; Bragg, Sandra ; Shutt, Kathleen ; Kaiser, Robyn ; Marano, Nina ; Popovic, Tanja ; Tappero, Jordan ; Ashford, David ; Mascola, Laurene ; Vugia, Duc ; Perkins, Bradley ; Rosenstein, Nancy
• Corporate Authors:
  Eco-Challenge Investigation Team
• Description:
  Adventure travel is becoming more popular, increasing the likelihood of contact with unusual pathogens. We investigated an outbreak of leptospirosis in "Eco-Challenge" multisport race athletes to determine illness etiology and implement public health measures. Of 304 athletes, we contacted 189 (62%) from the United States and 26 other countries. Eighty (42%) athletes met our case definition. Twenty-nine (36%) case-patients were hospitalized; none died. Logistic regression showed swimming in the Segama River (relative risk [RR]=2.0; 95% confidence interval [CI]=1.3 to 3.1) to be an independent risk factor. Twenty-six (68%) of 38 case-patients tested positive for leptospiral antibodies. Taking doxycycline before or during the race was protective (RR=0.4, 95% CI=0.2 to 1.2) for the 20 athletes who reported using it. Increased adventure travel may lead to more frequent exposure to leptospires, and preexposure chemoprophylaxis for leptospirosis (200 mg oral doxycycline/week) may decrease illness risk. Efforts are needed to inform adventure travel participants of unique infections such as leptospirosis.
• Subjects:
  Adult Disease Outbreaks DNA, Bacterial Female Fever Fresh Water Humans Leptospira Leptospirosis Male Middle Aged Research Risk Factors Sports Travel Water Microbiology

  More +
• Source:
  Emerg Infect Dis. 9(6):702-707.
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Malaysia
• Location:
  Asia
• Volume:
  9
• Issue:
  6
• Collection(s):
  Emerging Infectious Diseases
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:2ddd49b2345251928babda5e67ebd85e0470db917c8d3caa7c94324cf4157e3e
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/3143/cdc_3143_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 199.86 KB ]