Acute renal failure caused by leptospirosis and Hantavirus infection in an urban hospital.

BACKGROUND: Leptospirosis (LS) and Hantavirus (HV) infection have many common clinical manifestations, including acute renal failure. In as much as clinical experience with these diseases is quite limited in urban centers, we identified cases of Leptospira and HV-induced acute renal failure and compared the clinical course and evolution of these diseases. METHODS: Patients hospitalized with acute renal failure, suspected to be caused by infection, were retrospectively studied over a 13-year period (1985-1998).