Leptospirosis in a Japanese urban area: a case report and literature review.
Leptospirosis is not a major disease in urban areas of Japan. We describe a 49-year-old man with leptospirosis, who lived in an urban area and had no history of living in endemic area of leptospirosis. As he worked at a fish market infested with rats, he was suspected of having contracted leptospirosis and received antimicrobial agent treatment. Serum and urinary tests confirmed the diagnosis of leptospirosis. Although it took six days from the onset until treatment initiation, the patient improved in response to receiving ceftriaxone for seven days. Analyzing past reports of Japanese patients with leptospirosis who had no history of overseas travel, we identified 90 patients with courses similar to that of our patient, and the period from onset to treatment initiation was about six days on average (described in 46 cases). Health care providers as well as patients need to recognize that even people with no history of being in an endemic area of leptospirosis may still be at risk of developing this disease depending on occupations and activities.
Department of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo Metropolitan Bokutoh General Hospital, 4-23-15, Koto-bashi, Sumida-ku, Tokyo 130-8575, Japan.
Yukiko
Y
Shimizu
Department of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo Metropolitan Bokutoh General Hospital, 4-23-15, Koto-bashi, Sumida-ku, Tokyo 130-8575, Japan.
Naoya
N
Sakamoto
Department of Emergency Medicine, Tokyo Metropolitan Bokutoh General Hospital, 4-23-15, Koto-bashi, Sumida-ku, Tokyo 130-8575, Japan; Department of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo Women's Medical University, 8-1, Kawada-cho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-8666, Japan. Electronic address: ainoda.yusuke@twmu.ac.jp.
Yusuke
Y
Ainoda
Department of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo Metropolitan Bokutoh General Hospital, 4-23-15, Koto-bashi, Sumida-ku, Tokyo 130-8575, Japan.
Mayu
M
Hikone
Department of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo Metropolitan Bokutoh General Hospital, 4-23-15, Koto-bashi, Sumida-ku, Tokyo 130-8575, Japan.
Kenichiro
K
Kobayashi
Department of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo Metropolitan Bokutoh General Hospital, 4-23-15, Koto-bashi, Sumida-ku, Tokyo 130-8575, Japan.
Sentaro
S
Iwabuchi
Department of Bacteriology 1, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, 1-23-1, Toyama, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-8640, Japan.
Nobuo
N
Koizumi
Department of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo Metropolitan Bokutoh General Hospital, 4-23-15, Koto-bashi, Sumida-ku, Tokyo 130-8575, Japan.
Kenji
K
Ohnishi
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002443:Ceftriaxone / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D007922:Leptospirosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D002443:Ceftriaxone
Japan; Leptospirosis; Treatment delay