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Leptospirosis (Weil's disease)

Leptospirosis (morbus Weil) · Leptospiróza (Weilova nemoc)

What it is

A bacterium spread in rat and animal urine through water — flood, canoeing, farming — that can attack the liver, kidneys and lungs.

Symptoms & signs

  • Sudden fever and headache
  • severe calf pain
  • red eyes
  • jaundice
  • reduced urine
  • coughing blood (severe)

🚩 Get help if…

  • call 112 / 911 now Yellow skin with little or no urine
  • call 112 / 911 now Coughing blood or breathless
  • call 112 / 911 now Bleeding gums, nose or skin
  • see a doctor soon High fever and muscle pain after floodwater or farm work

Where it strikes

Medical treatment

  • PCR or antibody tests
  • doxycycline or penicillin
  • hospital care for kidney failure or bleeding
  • doxycycline prophylaxis for high exposure

Natural & lifestyle

  • Cover cuts in water
  • avoid swimming after floods
  • rodent control

Emerging & experimental

  • Vaccines for people at risk
  • rapid tests

Alternative, off-label & anecdotal

Approaches used outside the guidelines, with what their supporters report and what testing has found so far.

  • Papaya leaf extract — used for fevers in the tropics; untested here anecdotal / traditional
  • Herbal fever remedies — anecdotal anecdotal / traditional
  • Vitamin D — untested early / small studies

ICD codes