Beware of leptospirosis! How not to miss important symptoms

Leptospirosis (water or dog fever) refers to acute infectious diseases, has a parasitic nature and is extremely difficult to tolerate by humans, since it often causes severe intoxication of the body. The severity of the disease depends on the reactivity of the & nbsp; organism, leptospirosis is especially dangerous for children, the elderly, for those suffering from chronic diseases or those whose body is weakened for some reason. The onset of the disease may resemble a cold, but as a complication of leptospirosis, the patient can get acute renal failure and other difficult consequences, so doctors should be wary of the symptoms of this disease and provide adequate assistance in time.

 The causative agent of leptospirosis belongs to the genus Leptospira and is subdivided into a huge number of serotypes, so that a person who has had leptospirosis acquires some resistance to only one of more than 200 serotypes, but can subsequently get the infection again. Leptospira thrives in warm, humid environments, with leptospirosis outbreaks usually occurring in late summer.

Animals (dogs, rats, mice, pigs, cattle) are carriers of the infection, a person can become infected only through water where leptospira got into, or through food (unboiled milk, raw meat, fruits washed in an open pond). The causative agent of infection easily enters the human body through the slightest skin lesions, through the mucous membranes and even the conjunctiva of the eyes, and with the shortest contact with contaminated water or food.

 What is the danger of leptospirosis for the human body

No traces of inflammation remain at the site of infection. The causative agent moves through the body by the lymphatic system, but does not cause any inflammatory processes. Leptospira easily overcome the lymphatic barrier, accumulate in the liver, kidneys, spleen, lungs, central nervous system, begin to multiply and release toxins.

Without timely proper treatment, secondary contamination of the body can occur when the multiplied pathogens densely populate various organs, attach to the surface of liver cells, causing swelling of the liver tissue, affect skeletal muscles, destroy red blood cells, affect the vascular walls and disrupt the blood coagulation system.

Toxins released by leptospira can severely damage the epithelium of the renal tubules, which disrupts the process of urination and develops acute renal failure. The defeat of the central nervous system by leptospira is manifested by meningitis.

 Main and additional symptoms of leptospirosis

Patients usually note that against the background of normal health and for no apparent reason, they suddenly experience severe chills and a very high temperature, severe headache, pain in the calf muscles, and thirst. There is a very high sensitivity and soreness of the skin, especially in the thighs, lower back, muscles hurt so much that patients can hardly move.

Typical external manifestations of leptospirosis in patients:

- primary -

• hyperemic skin of the neck and chest;
• puffiness of the face;
• redness of the eyes, but without the sensation of a foreign body characteristic of conjunctivitis;

- secondary (with more severe course of leptospirosis) –

• icterus of the sclera and yellowness of the skin;
• skin rash similar to measles or rubella;
• erythematous exanthema;
• herpetic vesicles on lips and wings of nose;
• petechial rash, scleral hemorrhages.

In almost all patients, a few days after the onset of the disease, the liver enlarges and the amount of urine excreted sharply decreases, bradycardia, lowering blood pressure, stiff neck can be observed.

Complications in leptospirosis can be caused not only by very high intoxication, but also by the addition of a secondary bacterial infection (then pneumonia, otitis, pyelitis can occur).

 Treatment of leptospirosis in patients  and disease prognosis

Treatment is with antibiotics and specific immunoglobulin. With the development of renal failure, pathogenetic therapy is very important.

The outcome of the disease depends on its form, severity, the presence of chronic diseases in the patient and other factors that weaken the body's defenses, from the addition of a bacterial infection  and damage to internal organs.