A Reevaluation of the Effectiveness of Homoeoprophylaxis Against Leptospirosis in Cuba in 2007 and 2008.

OBJECTIVES

In 2007 and 2008, Cuban health officials conducted large homoeoprophylaxis interventions against rising rates of leptospirosis caused by extensive hurricane damage. Published results showed that the interventions were highly successful, but some questions regarding possible confounders were raised. The objective of this research was to assess the influence of potential confounders on initial results.

DESIGN

Weekly leptospirosis reporting data entries for 9 years were checked to ensure data consistency. Some errors in weekly reports for 2000-2008 were discovered, and corrected, and the changes incorporated in this analysis. The corrected data was reanalyzed to investigate the impact of potential confounders.

RESULTS

New analyses of the timing and extent of vaccination and chemoprophylaxis in 2007 and 2008 and changes in leptospirosis notifications were presented.

CONCLUSIONS

The results support the previous conclusions that homoeoprophylaxis can be used to effectively immunize people against targeted infectious diseases such as leptospirosis.