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River surfing source of Swiss leptospirosis cases
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Leptospirosis can be contracted during recreational activities in resource-rich countries and may even be more common than occupational acquisition, according to recent data.
Researchers evaluated a cluster of leptospirosis cases in Switzerland among young, healthy individuals. They identified two of the cases, case 1 (a man, aged 33 years) and case 2 (a woman, aged 32 years), during routine clinical examinations. Based on patient history data, the researchers suspected that the married couple’s infections were acquired from the same location, a standing wave on a river in Switzerland used for surfing. Contact with the third case, case 3 (a man, aged 34 years), was facilitated through information provided by the first two cases. None of the patients reported occupational exposure or likely acquisition abroad.
The patients presented with nonwell-defined symptoms, including discomfort, fever, pain, headache, chills, nausea, abdominal pain, joint pain and fatigue. Hospitalization was required for two cases, one of whom also was diagnosed with meningitis, and case 1 received a false-positive test result for HIV. In all cases, blood tests revealed infection with the serovar Leptospira grippotyphosa. Except for the case of meningitis, none of the patients required antibiotics; leptospirosis was not diagnosed until after most symptoms had resolved on their own. While the patients fully recovered, two cases required prolonged convalescence.
In addition, the researchers found that leptospirosis recently was determined to be the cause of death in free-ranging Eurasian beavers from a related river, which confirmed the presence of leptospires in the environment and strengthened the suspicion that the river was a likely source of infection.
“Based on these data, an estimate of human leptospirosis cases will be gathered which should help to evaluate trends in human disease,” the researchers wrote. “If these data indicated a parallel increase in human leptospirosis, efforts to change the status of leptospirosis from a non-notifiable to a notifiable disease would be reinforced. Our work strongly supports a cross-species “One Health” approach with further collaborations between human and veterinary medicine.” – by Jen Byrne
Disclosure: Infectious Disease News was unable to determine relevant financial disclosures at the time of publication.
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