The disease of Leptospirosis was defined for the first time in the year 1886 by Adolf Weil who highlighted this disorder to be highly contagious, resulting in enlarged spleen, jaundice and nephritis. The disease is, therefore, also referred to as Weil's disease or Weil's syndrome after the name of its discoverer. Some of the other commonly used terminologies for this disease include canicola fever, canefield fever, nanukayami fever, 7-day fever, Fort Bragg fever, and Pretibial fever. |
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The pathogenic bacterium identified in 1907 is spirochaetes, which belongs to the genus Leptospira. The bacterium is known to have the potential to infest mammals, birds, amphibians, and reptiles. The common modes of infection transfer are body fluids such as urine, blood and semen. The incidence of leptospirosis tends to increase with the rise in rainfall. The bacterium may gain entry into human body through consumption of contaminated food and water or damaged skin.
The indication of the disease in human beings is apparent after 4 to 14 days of the incubation phase. While some may showcase several symptoms linked to the disease, certain patients may not show any signs of the disorder making diagnosis rather difficult. This disease is designated as a biphasic disease, which denotes that the symptoms of the infection are evident in two phases. The first phase symbolizes symptoms such as fever, accompanied with chills, myalgias and severe headache. After a short interim break, the second phase of symptoms commence that are more severe in nature. These include meningitis, jaundice indicating liver problems and failure of the kidneys. It is this diversity in the symptoms that causes confusion and makes this disease under diagnosed.
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