{"id":506,"date":"2015-04-23T01:50:40","date_gmt":"2015-04-23T08:50:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/?p=506"},"modified":"2015-04-14T10:56:40","modified_gmt":"2015-04-14T17:56:40","slug":"leptospirosis-and-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/featured\/leptospirosis-and-you\/","title":{"rendered":"Leptospirosis and You"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Leptospira\"

This scanning electron micrograph depicts a number of Leptospira sp. bacteria atop a 0.1 \u00b5m polycarbonate filter.\u00a0Leptospires are long, thin motile spirochetes that may be free-living or associated with animal hosts and survive well in fresh water, soil, and mud in tropical areas. Organisms are antigenically complex, with over 200 known pathogenic serologic variants. Molecular taxonomic studies at CDC and elsewhere have identified 13 named and 4 unnamed species of pathogenic leptospires. Photo Courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control.<\/p><\/div>\n

According to Wikipedia:<\/p>\n

“Leptospirosis\u00a0(also known as\u00a0field fever,\u00a0rat catcher’s yellows, and\u00a0pretibial fever among other names) is an infection caused by\u00a0corkscrew-shaped bacteria Leptospira<\/i>. Symptoms can range from none to mild such as headaches, muscle pains, and\u00a0fevers; to severe with\u00a0bleeding from the lungs\u00a0or\u00a0meningitis. If the infection causes the person to turn\u00a0yellow, have\u00a0kidney failure\u00a0and bleeding it is then known as\u00a0Weil’s disease.\u00a0If it causes lots of bleeding from the lungs it is known as\u00a0severe pulmonary haemorrhage syndrome.”<\/p>\n

The disease is quite nasty and sometimes deadly, however if\u00a0you live in a developed country you won’t normally have contact with the rat or cattle urine that typically carries this disease. The exception is the population\u00a0that recreates\u00a0outdoors in warm and wet areas of the world. \u00a0 That may suggest that you are fairly safe, but maybe not.<\/span><\/p>\n

We came across the story of Sam Owen<\/a>, a kayaker that believed he caught the disease in the Itchen River in Southampton, England. \u00a0Reports suggest the 28 mile long river is fairly clean, except perhaps, for cattle intruding on the river from surrounding farms. \u00a0That may have been the source of his infection, but it is also possible he ran into the bacteria while rock climbing in Wales. \u00a0In either case these areas can be wet, \u00a0but they aren’t often warm and wet simultaneously.<\/p>\n

When being quizzed by his doctor, Owen is quoted as saying: “As soon as I told him about the kayaking I was given an antidote to try and fight the disease.” \u00a0The antidote was probably an antibiotic, typically IV penicillin.<\/p>\n

There isn’t any way you can really protect yourself from getting the disease, so the key is to be aware of the symptoms and get to a doctor when you first recognize them. \u00a0First of all, there is a seven to twelve day incubation period before symptoms appear. \u00a0The\u00a0symptoms\u00a0include:<\/p>\n