Mechanistic dose-response modelling of animal challenge data shows that intact skin is a crucial barrier to leptospiral infection.

ABSTRACT: Leptospirosis is a widespread and potentially life-threatening zoonotic disease caused by spirochaetes of the genus Leptospira. Humans become infected primarily via contact with environmental reservoirs contaminated by the urine of shedding mammalian hosts. Populations in high transmission settings, such as urban slums and subsistence farming communities, are exposed to low doses of Leptospira on a daily basis. Under these conditions, numerous factors determine whether infection occurs, including the route of exposure and inoculum dose. Skin wounds and abrasions are risk factors for leptospirosis, but it is not known whether broken skin is necessary for spillover, or if low-dose exposures to intact skin and mucous membranes can also cause infection. To establish a quantitative relationship

SUBMITTER: Gostic KM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6711307 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature