Most people who develop severe disease require hospitalisation and severe leptospirosis can sometimes be fatal. Symptoms usually develop after 5 to 14 days (can range from 2 to 30 days) following infection and last from a few days to 3 weeks or longer.
The time between a person's exposure to a contaminated source and becoming sick is 2 days to 4 weeks. Illness usually begins abruptly with fever and other symptoms.
Technical Information for Leptospirosis
Symptoms of leptospirosis include fever, headache, chills, muscle aches, vomiting/diarrhea, cough, conjunctival suffusion, jaundice, and sometimes a rash. The incubation period is usually 5–14 days, with a range of 2–30 days.
People may pass the bacteria in their urine for about 1 month, although some people may pass it for as long as 5 months. People can also get leptospirosis from other infected people, but this is rare. Leptospirosis can be treated with antibiotics and other medicine.
Some infected persons, however, may have no symptoms at all. Without treatment, Leptospirosis can lead to kidney damage, meningitis (inflammation of the membrane around the brain and spinal cord), liver failure, respiratory distress, and even death.
It rarely lasts more than a week. But about 10% of the time, when you have a severe form of leptospirosis, you'll get better, but then get sick again. This is called Weil's disease and it can cause much more serious issues, like chest pain and swollen arms and legs.
The following diseases should be considered in the differential diagnosis of leptospirosis: influenza, dengue and dengue hemorrhagic fever, hanta virus infection, yellow fever and other viral hemorrhagic fevers, rickettsiosis, borreliosis, brucellosis, malaria, pyelonephritis, aseptic meningitis, chemical poisoning, ...
Outbreaks of leptospirosis are usually caused by exposure to contaminated water, such as floodwaters. Person to person transmission is rare.
After five to seven days of illness, leptospires may also be recovered from urine for up to 14 days or more after symptom onset. Isolation can be difficult and can require up to 16 weeks even in experienced laboratories.
DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS Leptospirosis may be difficult to distinguish from many other infectious illnesses and some noninfectious diseases. Conjunctival suffusion, when it occurs, is one of the most reliable distinguishing features since it rarely occurs with other infectious illnesses.
Medical emergency
Leptospirosis can have serious life threatening effects. Get medical attention if cuts in your skin or your mucous membranes, such as your eyes, have been exposed to the urine of unvaccinated animals or farm animals, or contaminated water or soil.
Antibodies for leptospirosis develop between 3-10 days after symptom onset, thus any serologic test must be interpreted accordingly – negative serologic test results from samples collected in the first week of illness do not rule out disease, and serologic testing should be repeated on a convalescent sample collected 7 ...
Although leptospirosis is relatively rare in Australia, it is more common in warm and moist regions such as northeastern NSW and Queensland. About 200 cases are diagnosed nationally each year, although there are likely to be many more undiagnosed cases. Men are affected more often than women.
First phase (septicemic phase): About 5 to 14 days after infection occurs, fever, headache, sore throat, severe muscle aches in the calves and back, and chills occur suddenly. The eyes usually become very red on the third or fourth day. Some people cough, occasionally bringing up blood, and have chest pain.
Leptospirosis is treatable with antibiotics. If an animal is treated early, it may recover more rapidly and any organ damage may be less severe. Other treatment methods, such as dialysis and hydration therapy may be required.
If you are cleaning surfaces that may be contaminated or have urine from an infected pet on them, use an antibacterial cleaning solution or a solution of 1 part household bleach in 10 parts water. Make sure that your infected pet takes all of its medicine and follow up with your veterinarian.
These bacteria can infect any mammal, including humans. Leptospira live in warm, wet environments like damp grass, standing water, mud, and lakes. Under ideal conditions, the bacteria can survive more than three months outside the body.
After starting treatment, your dog may continue to pass leptospirosis bacteria for six weeks. During that time, protect yourself and others: Wash your hands carefully after direct contact with your dog or its urine.
Leptospirosis is spread mainly by the urine of infected animals and is generally not transmitted from person to person.
Leptospirosis is found in countries around the world. It is most common in temperate or tropical climate regions that include South and Southeast Asia, Oceania, the Caribbean, parts of sub-Saharan Africa, and parts of Latin America.
Wash floors and surfaces with a sanitizing solution like bleach (one-part household bleach and 10 parts water) to kill the bacteria.
The urine is taken to a lab to determine which, if any, bacteria or yeast are present in the urine. This takes 24 to 48 hours.
Urine culture results are usually ready in 1 to 3 days. Some germs take longer to grow in the culture. So results may not be available for several days.