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Updated: Apr 28, 2026

Author Spotlight: Leptospira DNA Detection in Water for Environmental Analysis and Disease Surveillance
Published on: June 14, 2024
Actionable diagnosis of neuroleptospirosis by next-generation sequencing
Michael R Wilson1, Samia N Naccache, Erik Samayoa
1From the Departments of Biochemistry and Biophysics (M.R.W., J.L.D.), Neurology (M.R.W.), and Laboratory Medicine (S.N.N., E.S., G.Y., S.S., S.F., S.M., C.Y.C.), and the Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases (C.Y.C.), University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and UCSF-Abbott Viral Diagnostics and Discovery Center (S.N.N., E.S., G.Y., S.S., S.F., S.M., C.Y.C.) - both in San Francisco; the Department of Medicine, Division of Allergy and Immunology (M.B., H.B., J.E.G.), and the Departments of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (S.M.S., K.D.R.) and Pediatrics (T.L.M., C.M.S., S.L.H., J.E.G.), University of Wisconsin, Madison; the Experimental Transplantation and Immunology Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD (R.S., E.G., F.C.); the Departments of Pediatrics and Immunology, Division of Allergy and Immunology, Duke University, Durham, NC (R.H.B.); and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta (R.G.).
Abstract:
A 14-year-old boy with severe combined immunodeficiency presented three times to a medical facility over a period of 4 months with fever and headache that progressed to hydrocephalus and status epilepticus necessitating a medically induced coma. Diagnostic workup including brain biopsy was unrevealing. Unbiased next-generation sequencing of the cerebrospinal fluid identified 475 of 3,063,784 sequence reads (0.016%) corresponding to leptospira infection. Clinical assays for leptospirosis were negative. Targeted antimicrobial agents were administered, and the patient was discharged home 32 days later with a status close to his premorbid condition. Polymerase-chain-reaction (PCR) and serologic testing at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) subsequently confirmed evidence of Leptospira santarosai infection.
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