ArticlePLoS neglected tropical diseases2018
The non-linear and lagged short-term relationship between rainfall and leptospirosis and the intermediate role of floods in the Philippines.
Article in PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 46 citations in OpenAlex.
- Leptospirosis in humans and selected animals in Sub-Saharan Africa, 2014-2022: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC infectious diseases · 2023Pooled it
- Risk factors for human leptospirosis following flooding: A meta-analysis of observational studies.PloS one · 2019Pooled it
- Spatiotemporal dynamics of leptospirosis in Europe: a retrospective observational study with prospective projections.The Lancet regional health. Europe · 2026Article
- Impacts of meteorological factors on zoonotic infections in domestic cat and dog populations: A scoping review of international evidence.One health (Amsterdam, Netherlands) · 2026Review
- Zoonotic transmission risk in flood-prone river basins: community knowledge and behavioral determinants of leptospirosis in eastern Ethiopia.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Leptospirosis in Hawai'i: A Retrospective Study within a Health Care System, 2010-2021.Hawai'i journal of health & social welfare · 2026Article
- Spatiotemporal trends in leptospirosis in the Philippines: a 10-year national surveillance analysis in a One Health and climate-related context.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- The association between rainfall and human leptospirosis in Aotearoa New Zealand.Epidemiology and infection · 2025Article
- Flood-associated disease outbreaks and transmission in Southeast Asia.Frontiers in microbiology · 2025Review
- Seroreactivity againstOne health (Amsterdam, Netherlands) · 2024Article
- Unraveling the leptospirosis epidemic: tales from the Philippine outbreak - a short communication.Annals of medicine and surgery (2012) · 2024Article
- Environmental and Occupational Factors Associated with Leptospirosis: A Systematic Review.Heliyon · 2024Article
- A prospective observational study of community-acquired bacterial bloodstream infections in Metro Manila, the Philippines.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2022Observational
- Article
- Rainfall and other meteorological factors as drivers of urban transmission of leptospirosis.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2022Article
- Effects of rainfall on human leptospirosis in Thailand: evidence of multi-province study using distributed lag non-linear model.Stochastic environmental research and risk assessment : research journal · 2022Article
- Leptospirosis and Coinfection: Should We Be Concerned?International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Review
- Effects of meteorological factors on human leptospirosis in Colombia.International journal of biometeorology · 2021Article
- Article
- A systematic literature review of leptospirosis outbreaks worldwide, 1970-2012.Revista panamericana de salud publica = Pan American journal of public health · 2020Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
11 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundLeptospirosis is a worldwide bacterial zoonosis. Outbreaks of leptospirosis after heavy rainfall and flooding have been reported. However, few studies have formally quantified the effect of weather factors on leptospirosis incidence. We estimated the association between rainfall and leptospirosis cases in an urban setting in Manila, the Philippines, and examined the potential intermediate role of floods in this association. METHODS/PRINCIPAL
findingsRelationships between rainfall and the weekly number of hospital admissions due to leptospirosis from 2001 to 2012 were analyzed using a distributed lag non-linear model in a quasi-Poisson regression framework, controlling for seasonally varying factors other than rainfall. The role of floods on the rainfall-leptospirosis relationship was examined using an indicator. We reported relative risks (RRs) by rainfall category based on the flood warning system in the country. The risk of post-rainfall leptospirosis peaked at a lag of 2 weeks (using 0 cm/week rainfall as the reference) with RRs of 1.30 (95% confidence interval: 0.99-1.70), 1.53 (1.12-2.09), 2.45 (1.80-3.33), 4.61 (3.30-6.43), and 13.77 (9.10-20.82) for light, moderate, heavy, intense and torrential rainfall (at 2, 5, 16, 32 and 63 cm/week), respectively. After adjusting for floods, RRs (at a lag of 2 weeks) decreased at higher rainfall levels suggesting that flood is on the causal pathway between rainfall and leptospirosis.
conclusionsRainfall was strongly associated with increased hospital admission for leptospirosis at a lag of 2 weeks, and this association was explained in part by floods.
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