Leptospira interrogans
📚 Related Subjects:
| Listeriosis
| Moraxella catarrhalis
| Leptospira interrogans
| Lactobacillus acidophilus
| Helicobacter pylori
| Haemophilus parainfluenzae
| Haemophilus influenzae
🔎 Please also see Weil’s Disease – the severe form of leptospirosis associated with jaundice, renal failure, and haemorrhage.
🦠 About
- Leptospirosis is a zoonotic bacterial infection caused by Leptospira species.
- Severe cases can progress to Weil’s disease with jaundice, kidney failure, and bleeding.
🔬 Characteristics
- Gram-negative, thin, coiled spirochetes.
- Non-capsulated, non-spore-forming.
- Characteristic hooked ends 🪝 under microscopy.
🧾 Types (Common Serovars)
- Icterohaemorrhagiae – rats 🐀
- Canicola – dogs 🐕
- Hardjo – cattle 🐄
- Pomona – pigs 🐖
🌍 Source
- Spread via contact with urine of infected animals (esp. rats 🐀).
- High-risk groups: canoeists 🚣♂️, farmers 🚜, sewage workers 🚧, and those exposed to contaminated water 💧.
🤒 Clinical Features / Pathogenicity
- Early (mild disease): Fever, headache, myalgia, abdominal pain, vomiting, conjunctival suffusion (red eyes 👀).
- Severe (Weil’s disease): Hepatitis with jaundice, renal failure, aseptic meningitis, haemorrhage.
- Can be biphasic – initial flu-like illness → immune phase with organ involvement.
🧪 Investigations
- Serology (MAT test) – main diagnostic tool, but results take time ⏳.
- Leptospira can sometimes be detected in blood (early) or urine (later phase).
- CSF: aseptic meningitis picture with raised lymphocytes.
💊 Sensitivity
- Typically sensitive to:
- Penicillin 💉
- Tetracycline
- Ceftriaxone
- Doxycycline 💊
🧬 Resistance
- No major resistance patterns reported for Leptospira.
⚕️ Management
- Supportive care: IV fluids, renal support (dialysis if needed), pain relief, monitoring for multi-organ failure.
- Antibiotics: Early treatment shortens disease course and prevents complications.
- Severe cases require hospital admission and sometimes ICU care.
