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Leptospriosis from swimming a river in Kauai
Two weeks after returning from Kauai my friend entered the hospital, put in the ICU. Initially it was thought various issues from Liver, Gallbladder, to a UTI until they discovered it was Leptospirosis. HE was there a week, then sent home. Now two weeks later he is back in the hospital because he was not feeling well (never really was after his last stay), in addition his skin was showing a yellowish color (most likely liver) . Three days later they are still running tests, and focusing on his gallbladder.
He is a cancer - lymph nodes survivor (2018) and still has chemo treatments every 2-3 months.
Would love to know if anyone else has experienced anything like this.
Thank you!
Alex
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Hello @alexiasc and welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. What an unfortunate circumstance your friend has found himself in after, what I would imagine, was a likely a wonderful trip otherwise.
I found this article and video that may be helpful as you walk this journey alongside your friend. Dr. Tosh does a nice job of talking about Leptospirosis and may be helpful until others join this discussion.
- Infectious Diseases A-Z: Leptospirosis in Puerto Rico:
https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/infectious-diseases-a-z-leptospirosis-in-puerto-rico/
Do you know if you friend was administered antibiotics like that of Dr. Tosh's recommendation early on? Is there competing symptoms between this exposure and his previous health conditions declining as well?
Thank you for this. I don't know, but I will ask. He has been back in the hospital a week now - no change. They are thinking it's his gallbladder but his blood levels are too low to try and remove it.
Update.
It has been four months since I wrote the first article. First I was wrong, he has Lymphoma, non Hodgkin, not lymph nodes. This is very important because the treatment for Leptospirosis is relatively easy, you typically are given Doxycycline for 10-14 days.
This does work for a person with an compromised immune system. He spent overall approx 46 days in/out of ICU in two hospitals, Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula (CHOMP) and Stanford University Hospital.
Outcome.
At this point no one seems to know if the Leptospirosis is gone from his system. He is on antibiotics, and no one seems to know who long he will stay on this.