Leptospira infection in people in the city of Durango, Mexico: a cross sectional study.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the seroprevalence of Leptospira immunoglobulin (Ig)G and IgM antibodies and its association with the characteristics of the study population from the northern Mexican city of Durango, Mexico. METHODS: Through a cross-sectional study design, inhabitants of Durango City, Mexico were surveyed between June 2018 and November 2018. Serum samples from the subjects were analysed for anti-Leptospira IgG and IgM antibodies using commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Sociodemographic, clinical, behavioural and housing characteristics were recorded. Data were analysed by bivariate and multivariate analyses. RESULTS: The study enrolled 413 people, of which 124 (30.0%) and 137 (33.2%) were positive for anti-Leptospira IgG antibodies and anti-Leptospira IgM antibodies, respectively. Multivariate analysis showed that Leptospira seropositivity was associated with professional occupation, alcohol consumption, ill clinical status, memory impairment and a history of surgery. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to report the seroepidemiology of Leptospira infection in an urban general population in the north of Mexico. The seroprevalence of Leptospira infection found was higher than those previously reported in Mexican studies.

Association between Toxoplasma gondii infection and thyroid dysfunction: a case-control seroprevalence study.

BACKGROUND: The association between Toxoplasma gondii infection and thyroid disease has been poorly studied. Therefore, we sought to determine the association between T. gondii seropositivity and thyroid dysfunction. METHODS: We performed an age- and gender-matched case-control study of 176 patients suffering from hypothyroidism (n = 161) or hyperthyroidism (n = 15) and 528 control subjects without these diseases in a public hospital in Durango City, Mexico. Anti-Toxoplasma IgG antibodies were determined in sera from cases and controls using a commercially available enzyme-linked immunoassay. RESULTS: Anti-T. gondii IgG antibodies were found in 11 (6.3%) of 176 patients suffering from thyroid dysfunction and in 48 (9.1%) of 528 control subjects (OR = 0.66; 95% CI: 0.33-1.31; P = 0.23). Stratification by two groups of age (50 years and younger, and 51 year and older) showed that the youngest group of patients with thyroid dysfunction had a significantly lower seroprevalence of T. gondii infection than its age- and gender-matched control group (1/83: 1.2% vs 23/257: 8.6%; OR = 0.12; 95% CI: 0.01-0.93; P = 0.01). This stratification also showed that the youngest group of patients with hypothyroidism had a significantly lower seroprevalence of T. gondii infection than its age- and gender matched control group (0/75: 0% vs 21/233: 9.0%; P = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that thyroid dysfunction is not associated with seropositivity to T. gondii in general; however, in young (50 years or less) patients, a negative association between infection and thyroid dysfunction and hypothyroidism was found. Further research to confirm this negative association is needed.