Unusual clinical manifestations of leptospirosis

Leptospirosis has protean clinical manifestations. The classical presentation of the disease is an acute biphasic febrile illness with or without jaundice. Unusual clinical manifestations may result from involvement of pulmonary, cardiovascular, neural, gastrointestinal, ocular and other systems. Immunological phenomena secondary to antigenic mimicry may also be an important component of many clinical features and may be responsible for reactive arthritis. Leptospirosis in early pregnancy may lead to fetal loss. There are a few reports of leptospirosis in HIV-infected individuals but no generalisation can be made due to paucity of data. It is important to bear in mind that leptospiral illness may be a significant component in cases of dual infections or in simultaneous infections with more than two pathogens.