Leptospirosis is one of the most widespread bacterial diseases caused by pathogenic Leptospira. There are broad clinical manifestations due to varied pathogenicity of Leptospira spp., which can be classified into three clusters such as pathogenic, intermediate, and saprophytic. Intermediate Leptospira spp. can either be pathogenic or non-pathogenic and they have been reported to cause mild to severe forms of leptospirosis in several studies, contributing to the disease burden. Hence, this study aimed to estimate the global prevalence of intermediate Leptospira spp. in humans using meta-analysis with region-wise stratification. The articles were searched from three databases which include PubMed, Scopus, and ScienceDirect. Seven studies were included consisting of two regions based on United Nations geo-scheme regions, among 469 records identified. Statistical analysis was performed using RevMan software. The overall prevalence estimate of intermediate Leptospira spp. in humans was 86% and the pooled prevalences were 96% and 17% for the American and Asia regions, respectively. The data also revealed that Leptospira wolffii was the most predominantly found compared to the other intermediate species identified from the included studies, which were Leptospira inadai and Leptospira broomii. The estimated prevalence data from this study could be used to develop better control and intervention strategies in combating human leptospirosis.
Keywords: human leptospirosis; intermediate Leptospira; meta-analysis; prevalence.