LEPTOSPIROSIS  

January 2006

Diagnosis, Diagnostics, Immunodiagnosis & Immunodiagnostics:  

13344.    Ambedkar AN, Bharadwaj RS, Joshi SA, Kagal AS, Bal AM. Sero surveillance of leptospirosis among sewer workers in Pune. Indian J Publ Hlth 2004, 48(1), 27-9.

13345.  Ganoza CA, Segura ER, Swancutt MA, Gotuzzo E, Vinetz JM. Mild, self-resolving acute leptospirosis in an HIV-infected patient in the Peruvian Amazon. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2005 Jul;73(1):67-8.

13346.  Kaya E, Dervisoglu A, Eroglu C, Polat C, Sunbul M, Ozkan K. Acute pancreatitis caused by leptospirosis: report of two cases. World J Gastroenterol. 2005 Jul 28;11(28):4447-9.

13347.  Merien F, Portnoi D, Bourhy P, Charavay F, Berlioz-Arthaud A, Baranton G. A rapid and quantitative method for the detection of Leptospira species in human leptospirosis. FEMS Microbiol Lett. 2005 Aug 1;249(1):139-47.
Pathogenesis: 

13348.   Hauk P, Negrotto S, Romero EC, Vasconcellos SA, Genovez ME, Ward RJ, Schattner M, Gomez RM, Ho PL. Expression and characterization of HlyX hemolysin from Leptospira interrogans serovar Copenhageni: potentiation of hemolytic activity by LipL32. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2005 Aug 12;333(4):1341-7.

Therapy:

13349.  Bal AM. Use of ciprofloxacin for treating leptospirosis--need for clinical trials. J Med Microbiol. 2005 Sep;54(Pt 9):907.

 

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April 2006

Some Selected Abstracts: 

1.

McBride AJ, Athanazio DA, Reis MG, Ko AI. Leptospirosis. Curr Opin Infect Dis. 2005 Oct;18(5):376-86. Review.

Goncalo Moniz Research Centre, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Ministry of Health, Rua Waldemar Falcao 121, 40295-001 Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Leptospirosis, a spirochaetal zoonotic disease, has been recognized as an important emerging infectious disease in the last 10 years. This review addresses the issues in the epidemiology, diagnosis and clinical management which confront public health responses, and highlights the progress made towards understanding the Leptospira genome, biology and pathogenesis. RECENT FINDINGS: Leptospirosis has spread from its traditional rural base to become the cause of epidemics in poor urban slum communities in developing countries. Mortality from severe disease forms, Weil's disease and severe pulmonary haemorrhage syndrome, is high (>10% and >50%, respectively) even when optimal treatment is provided. Moreover, the overall disease burden is underestimated, since leptospirosis is a significant cause of undifferentiated fever and frequently not recognized. Barriers to addressing this problem have been the lack of an adequate diagnostic test and effective control measures. China and Brazil, countries in which leptospirosis is a major health problem, have completed the sequence of the Leptospira interrogans genome. Together with new genetic tools and proteomics, new insights have been made into the biology of Leptospira and the mechanisms used to adapt to host and external environments. Surface-exposed proteins and putative virulence determinants have been identified which may serve as sub-unit vaccine candidates. SUMMARY: Major progress has been made in the basic research of leptospirosis. Future challenges will be to translate these advances into public health measures for developing countries. Yet the most effective responses may be interventions that directly address the determinants of poverty, such as poor sanitation, which are often responsible for transmission.

Diagnosis, Diagnostics, Immunodiagnosis & Immunodiagnostics:  

13907.  Bruce MG, Sanders EJ, Leake JA, Zaidel O, Bragg SL, Aye T, Shutt KA, Deseda CC, Rigau-Perez JG, Tappero JW, Perkins BA, Spiegel RA, Ashford DA. Leptospirosis among patients presenting with dengue-like illness in Puerto Rico. Acta Trop. 2005 Oct;96(1):36-46.  
Pathogenesis: 

13908.     Edwards CN. Leptospirosis: the need for clinical research. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2005 Oct;73(4):651.

13909.   Liborio AB. Can rhabdomyolysis be the only cause of acute renal failure in leptospirosis? Nephrol Dial Transplant. 2005 Nov;20(11):2580-1.

13910.   Spichler A, Moock M, Chapola EG, Vinetz J. Weil's disease: an unusually fulminant presentation characterized by pulmonary hemorrhage and shock. Braz J Infect Dis. 2005 Aug;9(4):336-40.  

Therapy:

13911.     Narita M, Fujitani S, Haake DA, Paterson DL. Leptospirosis after recreational exposure to water in the Yaeyama islands, Japan. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2005 Oct;73(4):652-6.   

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July 2006

 
    Diagnosis, Diagnostics, Immunodiagnosis & Immunodiagnostics:  

14398. Verma A, Ramadass P. Latex-based test for the diagnosis of leptospirosis. Indian Vet J 2005, 82(6), 591-3.

 

   Pathogenesis: 

14399. Viriyakosol S, Matthias MA, Swancutt MA, Kirkland TN, Vinetz JM. Toll-like receptor 4 protects against lethal Leptospira interrogans serovar icterohaemorrhagiae infection and contributes to in vivo control of leptospiral burden. Infect Immun. 2006 Feb;74(2):887-95.

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October 2006

Some selected abstract:

1

Ooteman MC, Vago AR, Koury MC. Evaluation of MAT, IgM ELISA and PCR methods for the diagnosis of human leptospirosis. J Microbiol Methods. 2006 May;65(2):247-57.

Departamento de Microbiologia, Instituto de Ciencias Biologicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais. Av. Antonio Carlos, 6627, CP 486, CEP: 31270-901, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Serum samples from 125 patients with clinical suspicion of leptospirosis were tested by the microscopic agglutination test (MAT), IgM ELISA and PCR for the diagnosis of the disease. Most patients were adult males and 74.1% (p<0.001) of the patients exposed to water and 77.6% (p<0.001) of those exposed to animals, were respectively considered confirmed or probable cases by MAT. The clinical symptoms mainly observed among the patients considered confirmed or probable cases were fever (95.6%), jaundice and headache (79.4%), myalgia (77.9%), nausea and vomiting (64.7%). About 63% of the confirmed or probable cases were patients that lived in Belo Horizonte, a big city of the Minas Gerais state, Brazil, showing the occurrence of urban leptospirosis. Among the 47 confirmed cases of leptospirosis diagnosed by MAT, 44 (94%) serum samples were positive by IgM ELISA and 17 (36%) were PCR positive. Among the 33 probable cases, 10 (30%) samples showed positive amplification by PCR. By considering MAT as the standard test, the sensitivity and specificity of IgM ELISA was 96.6% and 93.3%, respectively. A relevant finding in our study was the number of positive cases verified by PCR (13-29%) and IgM ELISA (3-7%) among the 45 unconfirmed cases by MAT, demonstrating the value of PCR in the early diagnosis of human leptospirosis.
 

Diagnosis, Diagnostics, Immunodiagnosis & Immunodiagnostics:

14749.  Griffith ME, Horvath LL, Mika WV, Hawley JS, Moon JE, Hospenthal DR, Murray CK. Viability of Leptospira in BacT/ALERT MB media. Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis. 2006 Apr;54(4):263-6.

14750.  Thai KT, Binh TQ, Giao PT, Phuong HL, Hung le Q, Van Nam N, Nga TT, Goris MG, de Vries PJ. Seroepidemiology of leptospirosis in southern Vietnamese children. Trop Med Int Health. 2006 May;11(5):738-45.

Pathogenesis :

14751.  De Souza AL, Sztajnbok J, Marques SR, Seguro AC. Leptospirosis-induced meningitis and acute renal failure in a 19-month-old male child. J Med Microbiol. 2006 Jun;55(Pt 6):795-

14752.  Doudier B, Garcia S, Quennee V, Jarno P, Brouqui P. Prognostic factors associated with severe leptospirosis. Clin Microbiol Infect. 2006 Apr;12(4):299-300.

Therapy :

14753.  Kahn JM, Muller HM, Kulier A, Keusch-Preininger A, Tscheliessnigg KH. Veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in acute respiratory distress syndrome caused by leptospire sepsis. Anesth Analg. 2006 May;102(5):1597-8.

 

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