Platelet dysfunction contributes to bleeding complications in patients with probable leptospirosis.

Background: Severe leptospirosis is frequently complicated by a hemorrhagic diathesis, of which the pathogenesis is still largely unknown. Thrombocytopenia is common, but often not to the degree that spontaneous bleeding is expected. We hypothesized that the hemorrhagic complications are not only related to thrombocytopenia, but also to platelet dysfunction, and that increased binding of von Willebrand factor (VWF) to platelets is involved in both platelet dysfunction and increased platelet clearance.

Are Pathogenic Leptospira Species Agents of Community-Acquired Pneumonia? Case Reports of Leptospirosis Presenting as Pneumonia.

We report four Indonesian cases meeting the clinical and radiological criteria for community-acquired pneumonia and other findings suggestive of leptospirosis. Quantitative PCR (qPCR) analyses of serum and urine samples and serology confirmed the diagnosis of leptospirosis in each. Results of qPCR analysis of throat swabs were concordant with those obtained with acute-phase serum samples, which suggests its potential for use as a noninvasive diagnostic tool for leptospirosis.

Markers of endothelial cell activation and immune activation are increased in patients with severe leptospirosis and associated with disease severity.

Objectives: Previous studies concluded that haemorrhage is one of the most accurate prognostic factors of mortality in leptospirosis. Therefore, endothelial cell activation was investigated in relation to disease severity in severe leptospirosis.

Methods: Prospective cohort study of severe leptospirosis patients.

Coagulation disorders in patients with severe leptospirosis are associated with severe bleeding and mortality.

Objective: To determine the involvement of coagulation in bleeding and poor outcome in patients with severe leptospirosis.

Methods: In a prospective study, parameters of the coagulation system were measured on admission and during follow-up in 52 consecutive patients with severe leptospirosis.

Results: All patients showed coagulation disorders, such as prolonged prothrombin time (PT) and activated partial thromboplastin time, marked procoagulant activity [thrombin-antithrombin (TAT) complexes, prothrombin fragment 1+2, D-dimer], reduced levels of anticoagulant markers (protein C, antithrombin) and increased (anti-) fibrinolytic activity [plasmin-antiplasmin (PAP) complexes, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1].

Murine typhus and leptospirosis as causes of acute undifferentiated fever, Indonesia.

To investigate rickettsioses and leptospirosis among urban residents of Semarang, Indonesia, we tested the blood of 137 patients with fever. Evidence of Rickettsia typhi, the agent of murine typhus, was found in 9 patients. Another 9 patients showed inconclusive serologic results.

Long pentraxin PTX3 is associated with mortality and disease severity in severe Leptospirosis.

Objective: To evaluate the long pentraxin PTX3 in patients with severe leptospirosis and to compare the results with the widely used short pentraxin C-reactive protein and the pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6 and IL-8.

Methods: This observational cohort study was carried out in Semarang, Indonesia, where leptospirosis is endemic and mortality is high. Consecutive patients with severe leptospirosis were sampled on admission and during follow-up.

Culture of Salmonella typhi and Salmonella paratyphi from blood and bone marrow in suspected typhoid fever.

We studied the yield of blood and bone marrow (BM) cultures in 145 patients clinically suspected of typhoid fever (TF) in Indonesia. The objectives were to compare the positivity of blood culture using 3 ml versus 10 ml of blood and to examine in how far specific antibiotic treatment for TF interfered with the positivity of BM culture. Blood for culture was collected before antibiotic treatment was initiated in hospital and BM 1 to 10 days after the start of treatment.