BACKGROUND:

Leptospirosis is a rare infectious complication that could manifest during pregnancy or puerperium. The most severe form, the Weil syndrome, has elevated mortality due to septic shock, multiple organ failure and severe bleeding complications.

CLINICAL CASE:

A 26-year-old female underwent cesarean section due to high risk of loss of fetal well-being at an outside hospital. On the 4th day postpartum, she was referred to our center febrile (38-39 ° C), with generalized jaundice, anasarca and hepatosplenomegaly, with further deterioration into multiorgan dysfunction syndrome. Elisa IgM was positive for Leptospirosis, specifically for the subtypes Hursbridge 1/200 and Icterohaemorrhagiae 1/400. On the ninth day after admission, ceftriaxone was started. Four weeks later, she had clinical improvement and was discharged in stable condition.

CONCLUSIONS:

The diagnosis of leptospirosis infection is uncertain during pregnancy and up to 10% of affected patients could have complications. It is important to monitoring the fetal well being and determine the proper time of pregnancy termination by the best route of delivery if there are maternal or fetal indications.