Diseases » Leptospirosis » Summary

What is Leptospirosis?

What is Leptospirosis?

• Leptospirosis: Bacterial infection usually caught from animal urine.
• Leptospirosis: A severe form of LEPTOSPIROSIS, usually caused by LEPTOSPIRA INTERROGANS SEROVAR ICTEROHAEMORRHAGIAE and occasionally other serovars. It is transmitted to humans by the rat and is characterized by hemorrhagic and renal symptoms with accompanying JAUNDICE.
  Source - Diseases Database
• Leptospirosis: an infectious disease cause by leptospira and transmitted to humans from domestic animals; characterized by jaundice and fever.
  Source - WordNet 2.1

Leptospirosis is listed as a "rare disease" by the Office of Rare Diseases (ORD) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This means that Leptospirosis, or a subtype of Leptospirosis, affects less than 200,000 people in the US population.
Source - National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Ophanet, a consortium of European partners, currently defines a condition rare when it affects 1 person per 2,000. They list Leptospirosis as a "rare disease".
Source - Orphanet

Leptospirosis: Introduction

Types of Leptospirosis:

Types of Leptospirosis:

• Cane-field fever
• Hasami fever
• Pretibial fever
• Weil's syndrome
• Stuttgart disease
• Mud fever
• Nanukayami
• Swine-herd's disease
• more types...»

Broader types of Leptospirosis:

• Bacterial diseases
• Zoonotic Diseases
• Diseases contagious from contaminated water
• Diseases contagious from animals
• more types...»

How many people get Leptospirosis?

Incidence (annual) of Leptospirosis: 100-200 cases annually in USA (DBMD)
Incidence Rate of Leptospirosis: approx 1 in 2,720,000 or 0.00% or 100 people in USA [about data]
Prevalance of Leptospirosis: It is estimated that 100-200 cases are identified annually in the United States with about 50% of cases occurring in Hawaii. (Source: excerpt from Leptospirosis: DBMD)

Who gets Leptospirosis?

Geography Profile for Leptospirosis: Leptospirosis occurs worldwide but is most common in temperate or tropical climates. (Source: excerpt from Leptospirosis (General): DBMD)

How serious is Leptospirosis?

Complications of Leptospirosis: see complications of Leptospirosis

What causes Leptospirosis?

Causes of Leptospirosis: see causes of Leptospirosis
Cause of Leptospirosis: Bacteria often caught indirectly from animal urine.
Causes of Leptospirosis: Occurs through direct or indirect transmission from a mammalian host. Indirect transmission via contact with Leptospira contaminated water or soil, is thought to be responsible for most cases. (Source: excerpt from Leptospirosis: DBMD)
Risk factors for Leptospirosis: see risk factors for Leptospirosis

What are the symptoms of Leptospirosis?

Symptoms of Leptospirosis: see symptoms of Leptospirosis

Complications of Leptospirosis: see complications of Leptospirosis

Incubation period for Leptospirosis: 7 to 14 days

Incubation period for Leptospirosis: The time between a person's exposure to a contaminated source and becoming sick is 2 days to 4 weeks. (Source: excerpt from Leptospirosis (General): DBMD)

Duration of Leptospirosis: The illness lasts from a few days to 3 weeks or longer. Without treatment, recovery may take several months. (Source: excerpt from Leptospirosis (General): DBMD)

Can anyone else get Leptospirosis?

More information: see contagiousness of Leptospirosis

Leptospirosis: Testing

Diagnostic testing: see tests for Leptospirosis.

Misdiagnosis: see misdiagnosis and Leptospirosis.

How is it treated?

Treatments for Leptospirosis: see treatments for Leptospirosis
Prevention of Leptospirosis: see prevention of Leptospirosis

Society issues for Leptospirosis

Hospitalization statistics for Leptospirosis: The following are statistics from various sources about hospitalizations and Leptospirosis:

• 0.0004% (54) of hospital consultant episodes were for leptospirosis in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03)
• 70% of hospital consultant episodes for leptospirosis required hospital admission in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03)
• 96% of hospital consultant episodes for leptospirosis were for men in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03)
• 4% of hospital consultant episodes for leptospirosis were for lwomen in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03)
• 79% of hospital consultant episodes for leptospirosis required emergency hospital admission in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03)
• more statistics...»

Name and Aliases of Leptospirosis

Main name of condition: Leptospirosis

Class of Condition for Leptospirosis: bacterial

Other names or spellings for Leptospirosis:

leptospira, Weil Disease, Canicola fever, Stuttgart disease, Hemorrhagic jaundice, Mud fever, Swamp fever, Cane-cutter fever, Rice-field fever, Swineherd's disease, Icterohemorrhagic fever

Leptospira icterohaemorrhagiae, Leptospira interrogans serovar icterohaemorrhagiae, Weil's disease Source - Diseases Database

Swamp fever
Source - WordNet 2.1

Mud fever, Rice-field fever, Stuttgart disease, Swamp fever, Swineherd's disease, Weil Disease, Cane-cutter fever, Canicola fever, Hemorrhagic jaundice, Icterohemorrhagic fever
Source - Office of Rare Diseases (ORD) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Research the causes of these diseases that are similar to, or related to, Leptospirosis:

• Leptospira antibodies
• Leptospiral infection
• Swineherd's disease
• Swamp fever
• Mud fever
• Leptospiremia
• Leptospires
• Leptospira
• Leptospiraceae
• L interrogans
• Leptospira interrogans
• L biflexa
• Leptospira biflexa
• L pomona
• Leptospira pomona
• L grippotyphosa
• Leptospira grippotyphosa
• L ballum
• Leptospira ballum
• L icterohaemorrhagiae
• Leptospira icterohaemorrhagiae
• L canicola
• Leptospira canicola
• Renal dysfunction
• Hepatic dysfunction

 » Next page: Online Medical Textbooks for Leptospirosis

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