title: Severe course of rat bite-associated Weil's disease in a patient diagnosed with a new Leptospira-specific real-time quantitative LUX-PCR.
abstract: Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease with global distribution, caused by spirochaetes of the genus Leptospira. Transmission of Leptospira interrogans serovar Icterohaemorrhagiae, the causative agent of Weil's disease, to humans usually results from exposure to the urine of infected, but mostly asymptomatic, rodents, either by direct contact or indirectly through contaminated soil or water. Although regarded as a re-emerging infectious disease, human leptospirosis is probably underdiagnosed due to its often unspecific clinical appearance and difficulties in culturing leptospires. Therefore, more rapid and specific diagnostic procedures are needed. Here we describe a novel real-time quantitative PCR system developed for the accurate and fast diagnosis of pathogenic Leptospira spp. Its usefulness in the management of a patient with rat bite-associated multiorgan failure is demonstrated.
authors.affiliation: Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority (LGL), Veterinärstraße 2, 85764 Oberschleißheim, Germany.
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Roczek
authors.affiliation: Universitätsklinikum Erlangen, Medizinische Klinik 4, Krankenhausstraße 12, 91054 Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Forster
authors.affiliation: Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority (LGL), Veterinärstraße 2, 85764 Oberschleißheim, Germany.
authors.forename: Heribert
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Raschel
authors.affiliation: Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority (LGL), Veterinärstraße 2, 85764 Oberschleißheim, Germany.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hörmansdorfer
authors.affiliation: Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority (LGL), Veterinärstraße 2, 85764 Oberschleißheim, Germany.
authors.forename: Karl-Heinz
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Bogner
authors.affiliation: Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority (LGL), Veterinärstraße 2, 85764 Oberschleißheim, Germany.
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hafner-Marx
authors.affiliation: Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority (LGL), Veterinärstraße 2, 85764 Oberschleißheim, Germany.
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lepper
authors.affiliation: Institute of Microbiology of the Bundeswehr, Neuherbergstraße 11, 80937 München, Germany.
authors.forename: Gerhard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dobler
authors.affiliation: Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority (LGL), Veterinärstraße 2, 85764 Oberschleißheim, Germany.
authors.forename: Mathias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Büttner
authors.affiliation: Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority (LGL), Veterinärstraße 2, 85764 Oberschleißheim, Germany.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sing
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood; D001733:Bites and Stings / Q000150:complications*; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D041383:Leptospira interrogans serovar icterohaemorrhagiae / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D051381:Rats; D014895:Weil Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000628:therapy; D015047:Zoonoses
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D004269:DNA, Bacterial