Clinical aspects of leptospirosis in carriers of viral hepatitis markers

: Comparative clinical, laboratory, and instrumental studies were conducted in 370 leptospirosis patients having positive (14.32%) and negative (85.68%) viral hepatitis markers. There were differences in the symptoms of hepatobiliary lesions, which were regarded as phenomena of either chronic viral hepatitis or secondary reactive hepatitis in 84.9% HV-positive and 14.8% HV-negative patients with leptospirosis. The findings suggest that it is necessary for physicians to examine such patients for viral hepatitis markers and, if the latter are found, to define the pattern of hepatic damage, and to make an early pathogenetic correction of the disorders found. The viral etiology of chronic hepatic inflammation should be borne in mind at follow-ups of HV-positive reconvalescents.