Seven Years Leptospirosis Follow-Up in a Critical Care Unit of a French Metropolitan Hospital; Role of Real Time PCR for a Quick and Acute Diagnosis.

(1)

Background

Leptospirosis infection can lead to multiple organ failure, requiring hospitalization in an intensive care unit for supportive care, along with initiation of an adapted antibiotic therapy. Achieving a quick diagnosis is decisive in the management of these patients. (2)

Methods

We present here a review of leptospirosis cases diagnosed in the intensive care unit of our hospital over seven years. Clinical and biological data were gathered, and we compared the differences in terms of diagnostic method. (3)

Results

Molecular biology method by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) allowed quick and reliable diagnosis when performed in the first days after the symptoms began. Moreover, we identified that sampling blood and urine for PCR was more efficient than performing PCR on only one type of biological sample. (4)

Conclusions

Our results confirm the efficiency of PCR for the quick diagnosis of leptospirosis and suggest that testing both blood and urine early in the disease might improve diagnosis.