What is Leptospirosis?
Leptospirosis is a systemic bacterial infection predominately found in tropical regions and flooded areas. It is the most common zoonotic disease. The organism persists in the convoluted tubules of the kidney and are shed into urine in massive numbers. Leptospirosis treatment, signs and symptoms, and diagnosis have been illustrated below in detail.
Signs and symptoms of leptospirosis
There are the following signs and symptoms of leptospirosis.
- High grade fever
- Weakness
- Myalgias
- Headache
- Photophobia
- Aseptic meningitis (headache, photophobia and neck stiffness)
- Icteric leptospirosis (well’s disease affects about 10% symptomatic patients of the leptospirosis and includes fever, jaundice and AKD)
- Pulmonary syndrome (Hemoptysis, pulmonary infiltrates, and ARDS)
Leptospirosis Diagnosis
The physician may advise CBC along with other baseline investigations. Blood culture and urine culture may also be advised. Microscopic agglutination test (MAT), specific but not highly sensitiveis, are the investigation of choice. ELISA and PCR are also used to diagnose the disease.
- CBC- polymorphonuclear leukocytosis predominately neutrophilic leukocytosis and thrombocytopenia
- Blood Culture – positive if done before 10days of infection
- Urine Culture – appear in urine during second week of infection
- MAT – investigation of choice
- ELISA
- PCR
Leptospirosis Treatment
Active Leptospirosis Treatment
Most infection are self-limiting. Oral doxycycline (100mg twice daily for one week) or intravenous penicillin (900mg 4 times daily for one week) is effective treatment but doesn’t obviate the risk of renal failure. Intravenous ceftriaxone (1g once a day for one week) is also beneficial in treatment of leptospirosis. Keep an eye on renal failure and hemorrhage is also crucial.
Prophylactic Treatment
Oral doxycycline 200mg once a week is used prophylactically to prevent the disease.