Leptospirosis is caused by Leptospira interrogans, a slender aerobic spirochete bacteria. It commonly infects rats and other mammals, being shed in their urine. Humans can become infected through contact with contaminated water or soil, with the bacteria entering through breaks in the skin or mucous membranes. Symptoms range from flu-like symptoms to more severe organ damage and include fever, headache, jaundice, and potentially death. Treatment involves antibiotics if given early, while prevention focuses on avoiding contact with infected animal urine and vaccinating domestic animals.
Leptospirosis is caused by Leptospira interrogans, a slender aerobic spirochete bacteria. It commonly infects rats and other mammals, being shed in their urine. Humans can become infected through contact with contaminated water or soil, with the bacteria entering through breaks in the skin or mucous membranes. Symptoms range from flu-like symptoms to more severe organ damage and include fever, headache, jaundice, and potentially death. Treatment involves antibiotics if given early, while prevention focuses on avoiding contact with infected animal urine and vaccinating domestic animals.
Leptospirosis is caused by Leptospira interrogans, a slender aerobic spirochete bacteria. It commonly infects rats and other mammals, being shed in their urine. Humans can become infected through contact with contaminated water or soil, with the bacteria entering through breaks in the skin or mucous membranes. Symptoms range from flu-like symptoms to more severe organ damage and include fever, headache, jaundice, and potentially death. Treatment involves antibiotics if given early, while prevention focuses on avoiding contact with infected animal urine and vaccinating domestic animals.
Introduction Leptospira are thightly spirochaetes 5-15 μm long. They show active rotational movement and have two flagella-like axial filaments. There is best seen by dark-filed microscopy because they are not very well stained by dyes L. interrogans causes disease Leptospirosis, a slender aerobic Gram negative spirochaetes with hooked ends. There are more than 250 antigenic types of this species. This species infects mammals such as rats, causing chronic kidney infection with excretion of large number of bateria in urine. Introduction The spirochaetes are soon killed on drying, heating, detergen, desinfectans, but they remain viable for several weeks in stagnant alkaline water or wet soil Human are infected by Ingestion of or exposure to contaminated water or food. The bacteria aided by their motility, enter breaks in skin or mucosae, so that infection can be acquired by swimming, working, playing in contaminated water LEPTOSPIROSIS – Sign and symptoms Leptospirosis is mainly a disease of animals, but it can be passed to human. The causative bacterium enters the body through a mucous membrane or wound and is then carried to the urinary system by the blood stream Leptospirosis infections are often asymptomatic, when sign and symptom do occur, they begin after an incubation period average 10 days (range 2 to 30 days) LEPTOSPIROSIS – Sign and symptoms In mild cases, most common, symptom are flulike, and include the sudden development of headache, spiking fever, chills, muscle pain, bloodshot eyes in the first (septicemia) phase, then 1-3 days of improvement : heart, brain, liver, and kidney damage in the second (immune) phase LEPTOSPIROSIS - Pathogenesis The bacteria penetrate mucous membranes or breaks in the skin, multiply in the bloodstream, and are carried to all parts of the body. Septicemia phase : severe pain with penetration of body tissues, but little or no tissue damage. Immune phase : damage to cells that line small blood vessel and clotting of blood. Causes severe damage to the liver, kidney, heart, brain, and others organ LEPTOSPIROSIS - Epidemiology Leptospirosis is a zoonosis and man is an un-natural or ‘end’ host and does not transmit the infection further. Worldwide distribution. Wide range of animal hosts chronically excrete the bacteria in their urine, causing contamination of natural waters and soils. Organisms remain infectious under warm, moist, neutral or alkaline conditions for long periodes of time LEPTOSPIROSIS – Treatment and Prevention
Treatment : various antibacterial
medications useful in treatment of leptospirosis, but only if given early in the disease Prevention : avoiding contact with animal urine. Vaccine prevent disease in domestic animals, may not urinary carriage. Tetracycline antibiotics preventive in epidemics