The clinician suspect leptospirosis only if the symptoms are very severe and if a patient complains of fever, jaundice, bleeding tendencies and severe muscle ache (predominantly calf muscles).
A diagnosis of leptospirosis can be confirmed by blood and urine tests to detect the presence of the leptospira bacteria in the blood or urine.
Blood tests-
- The white blood cell count is normal or slightly elevated, but when there is an involvement of liver it increases to 15,000 cells/units (Normal 4-11,000 cells/cubic mm)
- The hemoglobin can be low in these patients as bleeding can lead to anemia.
- MSAT (Macroscopic Slide Agglutination Test)
- MAT (Microscopic Agglutination Test)
- ELISA (Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay).
If the individual has been treated with antibiotics these tests may not be very helpful and may be repeated 2 weeks later.