Leptospirosis in humans

Severe course and frequent complications are characterized by such a dangerous infectious disease as leptospirosis. The causative agents are the anaerobic bacteria of the genus Leptospira. Not only animals are susceptible to the disease, they often diagnose leptospirosis in humans. Symptoms of the disease are, as a rule, acute. The incubation period lasts an average of two weeks. Then the patient's temperature rises sharply (up to 40 ° C), there is a tremendous chill, pain in the muscles, often in the calves, headaches. Leptospirosis in humans is also characterized by reddening and puffiness of the face, palpitations and breathing, low blood pressure.

After 3 days from the onset of the disease, there usually appears a dot and urtical rash on the skin, the spleen and liver increase , urination becomes difficult, meningic symptoms often appear, jaundice. Usually, the temperature lasts about a week, then decreases critically. A second wave of fever is possible.

The source of infection are commercial, domestic and wild animals that have been infected with leptospirosis. Bacteria are permanently excreted in the urine of sick animals in the environment. The carriers of leptospira, in most cases, are hedgehogs, shrews, field mice and rats. The disease is also common among farm animals. A person becomes infected by contact, for example, when swimming in water, bites by animals, aspiration - during the preparation of hay, and also alimentary - with the use of products contaminated with leptospira. Leptospirosis in humans is often of a professional nature. The most vulnerable to infection are workers in agriculture, meat processing plants and slaughterhouses, as well as plumbers and miners.

Complications of leptospirosis
The complications of this disease are of great danger. Leptospirosis in humans sometimes leads to such serious complications as kidney failure, pneumonia, myocarditis, cerebral edema, various eye injuries, acute circulatory disorders. Mortality in this disease reaches 1-3%, but during the epidemic, this figure increases to 35%. The cause of death of patients is more often acute liver or kidney failure, and in some cases meningoencephalitis or hemorrhagic pneumonia.

Diagnosis and treatment
When suspicion of leptospirosis, urine, blood and liquor are sown to nutrient media. Confirm the diagnosis and with the help of serological reactions - microagglutination-lysis, DSC, RNGA. Leptospirosis in humans is differentiated from diseases such as infectious mononucleosis, hemorrhagic fever, viral hepatitis, meningitis.

Treatment of leptospirosis is carried out exclusively in the hospital. Patients are prescribed antibiotics, more often penicillin. Leptospira are also sensitive to antibiotics of cephalosporin series, levomycetin, polymyxin, tetracycline. In severe cases, the immunoglobulin is polyvalent antileptospirosis, which is administered during the first three days of a febrile condition according to the scheme. At the slightest signs of signs of renal failure or the development of hepatic encephalopathy, resuscitative measures are used.

Antibiotics continue until the seventh day of normal body temperature of the patient. In the jaundice form and in the absence of complications, the prognosis of the disease is favorable. In most cases, human leptospirosis results in a recovery that occurs, on average, in the fourth week of the disease. As a rule, the patients are still concerned for a long time with muscle pain and weakness.

Persons at high risk of infection with leptospira in the workplace are subject to vaccination with a specific killed leptospirosis vaccine.