Lethal leptospiral pulmonary hemorrhage: an emerging disease in Buenos Aires, Argentina

Abstract

In the Buenos Aires metropolitan area, 40–100 cases of human leptospirosis are reported annually. Occasional epidemic outbreaks have been characterized by mild leptospiral illness. Severe illness with acute renal failure and extensive cutaneous and visceral hemorrhages (always accompanied by jaundice) has been observed only rarely. A review of our data for 1990–1999 showed that 276 human cases were diagnosed; 43 of these were characterized by pneumonia alone or associated with another syndrome. No severe pulmonary hemorrhage due to leptospirosis was detected in these cases (Table), and the case-fatality rate was <1% (1).