Detection of Leptospira DNA in Patients with Aseptic Meningitis by PCR

Abstract

Samples of cerebrospinal fluid from 103 patients with aseptic meningitis were tested by PCR for detection of leptospires, and the results were compared with those of the microscopic agglutination test (MAT) and an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for detection of immunoglobulin M (ELISA-IgM). Of these samples, 39.80% were positive by PCR and 8.74 and 3.88% were positive by MAT and ELISA-IgM, respectively.

Human leptospirosis: a twenty-nine-year serological study in São Paulo, Brazil

“…Leptospirosis is undoubtedly underdiagnosed in Brazil because of the low index of suspicion among clinicians and the difficulty of laboratory diagnosis mainly with mild and nonspecific symptoms. In addition, the results of numerous studies indicate that leptospirosis must always be considered in the differential diagnosis of suspected viral infections of the central nervous system 6,8 . Also, the specific antibody response of the host can be inhibited by early antibiotic treatment and is difficult to evaluate in areas where leptospirosis is endemic and reinfection can occur.…”

Leptospirosis: risks during recreational activities

“…This time‐consuming technique can delay rapid diagnosis and administration of the correct drug regime. Recently, there has been a push to apply molecular PCR techniques for confirming infection from clinical samples such as urine and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF; Romero et al. 1998; Levett et al.…”

Changing how we think about infectious diseases

“…In the aforementioned case of gene-based diagnosis of childhood meningitis caused by leptospirosis, we note that an astute clinician may have reached the same diagnosis sooner, and without stateof-the-art technology. Empirically, it is known that children with meningitis whose cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) specimen does not grow organisms will have leptospirosis in about a third of cases [59]. The diagnosis could be confirmed quickly using older technology that directly tested for the presence of the suspected organism (rather than laboriously searching through a large database) [59].…”

“…Empirically, it is known that children with meningitis whose cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) specimen does not grow organisms will have leptospirosis in about a third of cases [59]. The diagnosis could be confirmed quickly using older technology that directly tested for the presence of the suspected organism (rather than laboriously searching through a large database) [59]. We should be prepared to accept that there will always be circumstances wherein a gene-based diagnosis must give way to common sense.…”