Case ReportLeptospirosis Mimicking Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome: A Case Report
Section snippets
Case Presentation
A 14.5-year-old boy felt ill 1 week after returning from a camping trip. Initial symptoms included abdominal pain and nonbloody diarrhea, followed by fever, vomiting, and skin rash. He was admitted to the hospital to rule out an acute abdomen, where an abdominal ultrasound scan showed a normal appendix, normal kidneys, and large spleen. He received intravenous fluids and was discharged the following day. At discharge, he had a rash on his legs, creatinine level was 1.2 mg/dL (105 μmol/L),
Discussion
The genus Leptospira is divided into 3 species, of which only one, Leptospira interrogans, is pathogenic; itself subdivided into approximately 200 “serovars.” Animal hosts get a primary usually asymptomatic infection, after which they harbor the bacteria in their kidney tubules and excrete it in urine for months to years. In soil or water, spirochetes can survive for months given the right temperature (25°C to 30°C) and pH (6.2 to 8) conditions.1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9
Humans become infected by contact
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2014, Wiener Klinische Wochenschrift
Originally published online as doi: 10.1053/j.ajkd.2009.01.274 on June 4, 2009.