[Weil's disease: a severe case with respiratory insufficiency].

: In the patient case (man, age 25) with suspected leptospirosis, indication for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) are supposed and procedures suitable for taking biological material are recommended. In the presented case of leptospirosis, serious conditions were accompanied by high fever, chills, hepatorenal failure, meningitis, pneumonia, increased bleeding time and further symptoms are described. Introduction of the molecular biological methods (PCR) enables to determine leptospiroses diagnosis even in the early phase of the disease, when the antibodies are not yet formed. Detection of DNA pathogenic leptospires in the PCR method is completed with serological examination by microagglutination-lysis (MAL) method for determination of the corresponding serovar that is important from therapeutic and epidemiological reasons.