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Infections and Their Mimics in Returning Travelers in the Critical Care Unit
Published in Cheston B. Cunha, Burke A. Cunha, Infectious Diseases and Antimicrobial Stewardship in Critical Care Medicine, 2020
Elise Kochoumian, Jonathon Moore, Bushra Mina, Kevin Cahill
Infection results from direct or indirect exposure to infected reservoir host. Poor housing with poor sanitation is a major risk factor for acquiring the disease, especially in urban areas in underdeveloped countries. The disease is mainly found wherever humans come in contact with the urine of infected animals. The natural hosts are mainly humans, domestic animals, and brown rats. Human-to-human transmission is rare and can occur through sexual contact or transplacentally. After exposure to infected animal or contaminated urine, Leptospira gain entry through abrasions or mucous membranes [26].
The Diagnosis of Hemorrhagic Fever
Published in James H. S. Gear, CRC Handbook of Viral and Rickettsial Hemorrhagic Fevers, 2019
Leptospirosis, especially the form due to Leptospira icterohemorrhagiae is typically associated with severe hepatitis, jaundice, and sometimes the development of a full-blown hemorrhagic state, associated with bleeding from the mucous membranes and into the skin.
Leptospira
Published in Dongyou Liu, Handbook of Foodborne Diseases, 2018
Tanu Sagar, Nitin Gupta, Rama Chaudhry
Leptospira is a spirochete that is responsible for causing leptospirosis, and is the most widespread and prevalent zoonotic disease in the world. Leptospirosis has raised considerable public concern during the past few decades due to its involvement in numerous outbreaks. As a most important environmental endemic disease, leptospirosis is often associated with natural disasters such as floods and hurricanes [1]. Leptospira bacteria circulate in nature by chronic renal infection of carrier animals, which excrete the organisms in their urine, thus contaminating the environment eventually. Most human infections are asymptomatic. In symptomatic individuals, leptospirosis presents with a wide spectrum of illness, ranging from undifferentiated febrile illness to severe multisystem disease with increased mortality. There is a significant degree of underdiagnosis due to the extreme variation of clinical presentation.
Presence of Leptospira spp. and absence of Bartonella spp. in urban rodents of Buenos Aires province, Argentina
Published in Pathogens and Global Health, 2022
Leptospira spp. and Bartonella spp. are important zoonotic agents with worldwide distribution [17–20, 2,21–23]. Numerous studies worldwide reported the association of these bacteria and urban rodents [2,21,23–25]. Leptospirosis is caused by spirochetal bacteria from the genus Leptospira (family Leptospiraceae), with 64 species classified into two clades: pathogenic, or P clade, which includes isolates that cause human or animal infections, and saprophytic, or S clade, which includes species isolated from the environment that do not cause infections [26]. Species clustering in the pathogenic clade are considered more relevant due to their ability to cause a wide range of clinical signs, including multiple organ failure and even death [5,27–31]. Urban rodents are the main source of infection for humans and other vulnerable vertebrate hosts for leptospirosis. Humans may become infected with Leptospira spp. by direct contact with an infected animal or by indirect contact with soil or water contaminated with urine from an infected animal [18,30,31].
Elevated levels of IL-8 in fatal leptospirosis
Published in Pathogens and Global Health, 2020
Wan Shahriman Yushdie Wan Yusoff, Maha Abdullah, Zamberi Sekawi, Fairuz Amran, Muhammad Yazli Yuhana, Niazlin Mohd Taib, Anim Md. Shah, Syafinaz Amin Nordin
The clinical outcome of leptospirosis is highly variable. Most cases are mild, however, there are a significant number of patients with severe medical complications and even death. Mild leptospirosis symptoms include fever, headaches, and myalgia but a small percentage can manifest as conjunctival suffusion, meningitis, rash, jaundice, and renal insufficiency [5,6]. Leptospirosis may progress to Weil’s disease (severe form) exhibiting jaundice, acute renal failure and bleeding with a mortality rate exceeding 10%, or severe pulmonary hemorrhage syndrome (SPHS) with a mortality rate of more than 50% [7–9]. Variation in clinical outcomes has the potential to impede the diagnosis and management of leptospirosis cases. Leptospirosis disease screening uses rapid immunological tests and is confirmed either through a microscopic agglutination test (MAT) or Leptospira antigen detection by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) [10].
Identification of Leptospira spp. from environmental sources in areas with high human leptospirosis incidence in the Philippines
Published in Pathogens and Global Health, 2019
Marjo V. Mendoza, Windell L. Rivera
Since prolonged rainy season and increased flooding conditions are expected in the coming years, there is a need to investigate the potential environmental reservoirs of leptospires. The present study investigated the presence of Leptospira in regions where human leptospirosis cases had been reported. Using standard PCR which targets 23S rRNA gene and virulence-associated genes, lipL32, lipL41, and ompL1, soil and water samples were screened to identify possible sources of infection. Also, the 16S rRNA gene of each isolate was sequenced for species classification. These data are important for surveillance purposes in areas with high risk of infection, for determination of circulating species in the country, and for the establishment of preventive controls to avert the occurrence of further outbreaks.