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Case Report

Early diagnosis of leptospirosis

by
Andrea Babic-Erceg
1,*,
Diana Karlovic-Martinkovic
1,
Marija Santini
2,
Zdenka Persic
1 and
Tatjana Vilibic-Cavlek
1
1
Croatian National Institute of Public Health, Zagreb, Croatia
2
University Hospital for Infectious Diseases Dr. Fran Mihaljevic, Zagreb, Croatia
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Infect. Dis. Rep. 2014, 6(2), 5156; https://doi.org/10.4081/idr.2014.5156
Submission received: 4 November 2013 / Revised: 19 December 2013 / Accepted: 2 January 2014 / Published: 24 June 2014

Abstract

A 25-years old man from Zagreb, Croatia, was admitted to the University Hospital for Infectious Diseases four days after the onset of symptoms such as fever, intense pain in the calves and anuria. The patient owned a rabbit and, before the onset of the disease, repaired some rubber pipes damaged by rodents. At admission, he had a severe clinical picture with fever, hypotension, jaundice, immobility, and pain in leg muscles. Treatment with ceftriaxone was initiated in combination with volume restitution. Renal failure soon ensued. Consequently continuous venovenous hemodiaphiltration therapy was performed. Due to acute respiratory distress syndrome, the patient was mechanically ventilated. The patient’s condition gradually improved and he recovered fully from multi-organ failure. Diagnosis was confirmed by a microscopic agglutination test (MAT) covering 15 leptospira serovars and real-time polymerase-chain reaction (PCR). The first serum sample taken on day 6 tested negative for leptospira, while PCR showed positive results for leptospiral DNA. The second serum sample taken on day 13 tested positive for serovar Canicola serogroup Canicola, serovar Patoc, serovar Grippotyphosa serogroup Grippotyphosa and serovar Tarassovi serogroup Tarassovi (titre 4000, 4000, 1000 and 2000, respectively), while PCR was negative. This report highlights the benefits of combining MAT and PCR methods in early diagnosis of leptospirosis.
Keywords: leptospirosis; microscopic agglutination test; polymerase chain reaction leptospirosis; microscopic agglutination test; polymerase chain reaction

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MDPI and ACS Style

Babic-Erceg, A.; Karlovic-Martinkovic, D.; Santini, M.; Persic, Z.; Vilibic-Cavlek, T. Early diagnosis of leptospirosis. Infect. Dis. Rep. 2014, 6, 5156. https://doi.org/10.4081/idr.2014.5156

AMA Style

Babic-Erceg A, Karlovic-Martinkovic D, Santini M, Persic Z, Vilibic-Cavlek T. Early diagnosis of leptospirosis. Infectious Disease Reports. 2014; 6(2):5156. https://doi.org/10.4081/idr.2014.5156

Chicago/Turabian Style

Babic-Erceg, Andrea, Diana Karlovic-Martinkovic, Marija Santini, Zdenka Persic, and Tatjana Vilibic-Cavlek. 2014. "Early diagnosis of leptospirosis" Infectious Disease Reports 6, no. 2: 5156. https://doi.org/10.4081/idr.2014.5156

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