A Case of Leptospirosis With Multiple Organ Dysfunction

Abstract

Leptospirosis is a zoonotic infection caused by a spirochete of the genus Leptospira, which may affect both humans and animals and is common worldwide. The disease may lead to distinct clinical pictures in humans varying from subclinical infection to multiple organ dysfunction and even death. In this paper, we presented a 8-year-old male patient admitted with the complaints of fever, malaise, fatigue and night sweating, who had been feeding a pet rabbit in the house, and who had jaundice of the sclera and skin, a rash, gastrointestinal bleeding and hepatosplenomegaly found on examination. He developed encephalopathy, bleeding diathesis, hepatic and renal failure; and was diagnosed with leptospirosis based on the clinical symptoms and laboratory tests. After 14-days of therapy with crystallized penicillin and intensive supportive treatment, the neurological and hematological anomalies improved as well as the renal and hepatic dysfunction. In conclusion, we would like to emphasize that the probability of leptospirosis should be considered in children presenting with jaundice, encephalopathy, multiple organ dysfunction and bleeding diathesis if there are any environmental risk factors.