Leptospirosis

(Microbiology)

Serological diagnosis (Bacteriology) - 10ml clotted blood, acute and convalescent. (Because IgM is detectable within 3 days of the onset of illness, serologic testing has superceded direct microscopy for leptospires in the urine, which required the patient to have been started on a urinary alkalinising regimen and for the lab to receive the urine immediately it had been passed. Similarly, culture from the urine is now obsolete, special culture medium having to be freshly prepared in addition to the constraints applying to microscopy).

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