In this article we will discuss about the Sign and Symptoms of Leptospirosis. So, let’s get started.
Sign and Symptoms
After an incubation period of 7-12 days ( can range between 6-29 days) the symptoms starts to appear. It is a biphasic disease. First is the acute or septic phase that ends after 3-7 days of illness and next is the immune phase in which symptoms resolves and antibodies develops. The acute phase of Leptospirosis can cause a range of symptoms or can sometimes be asymptomatic also. Symptoms include fever, chills, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, myalgia, frontal or temporal headache, and skin rash, can sometimes also include retro orbital pain, photophobia, conjunctival suffusion, subconjunctival bleeding and jaundice. Dry cough is observed in 20%-57% of patients with leptospirosis. Disappearence of symptoms is followed by appearance of antibodies, patient remains asymptomatic for 3-4 days untill the second phase begins with another episode of fever. The immune phase ranges between 4-30 days, and can cause severe brain and renal complications. The hallmark of immune phase is meningitis, symptoms include severe headache and neck stiffness. 5%-10% of those infected with jaundice can also develop multiple organ failure. Severe leptospirosis can cause liver, kidney and brain complications. Signs of meningoencephalitis, altered level of consciousness can also occur. Neurological complications include transverse myelitis, hemiplegia, and GB syndrome. Signs of bleeding such as petechiae, ecchymoses, epistaxis, melena, haemetemesis pulmonary haemorrhage, alveolar haemorrhage and haemoptysis can also occur. Rare complication includes myocarditis, pericarditis, heart block and arrhythmia. Classical form of severe leptospirosis is known as Weil syndrome or Weil disease characterized by jaundice, kidney failure and bleeding.
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