His eyes were the cause of his illness. A healthy 18-year-old showed up at an emergency department in the Netherlands after two days of sickness. His heart was beating fast and his abdomen was tender.
Blood vessels on the surface of his eyes had burst and the whites of his eyes were stained with blood. There were areas that were not bloodied. He had a lab test that showed he had a serious injury to his body. The mention that he had fallen into a canal three weeks prior to his illness was an important clue as to why he was sick.
The report was published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The man had a rare but severe bout of leptospirosis, a disease that can cause a wide range of symptoms. There was a fall into a canal that was likely contaminated with rodents' urine.
AdvertisementThe spiral-shaped bacterium Leptospira interrogans is the cause of the disease. The bacteria can be found in a wide range of animals. The brown rat is the most dangerous to humans.
People can be exposed to contaminated water and soil if they are in close contact with an animal that has the disease. The invaders use cuts and mucus to enter humans. They can attack the body's organs once in. Acute respiratory distress can be caused by a severe case.
It is endemic to humid tropical and subtropical areas. There are more than half a million cases of the disease each year. About 10 percent of cases are severe, and 5 to 15 percent of cases are fatal according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Antibiotics are good at clearing infections.
In the young man's case, he was in the hospital for a week for an illness. All his symptoms had been resolved at a three week follow up.
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