Fatal Pulmonary Haemorrhage in Co-infection with Dengue and Leptospirosis

Leptospirosis  is  an  emerging  infectious  disease  with  worldwide  distribution.  Its symptoms  may  mimic  a  number  of  other  infections  such  as  dengue,  malaria, hepatitis and typhoid fever, particularly in tropical countries where these diseases are endemic. Similarly, dengue is an important infectious disease that poses as a public health emergency due to its rapid epidemic spread across the world. Here, we  report  a  fatal  case  of  dengue  fever  in  a  patient  who  was  also  serologically positive for leptospirosis. Co-infection of both dengue and leptospirosis can lead to an illness with overlapping symptoms and therefore present a clinical diagnostic dilemma to the treating physician. Hence, a high index of suspicion among clinicians is required, especially in high endemic areas. The optimal usage of antigen-based rapid diagnostic tests is essential to aid the clinicians to make timely and accurate diagnosis as well as to start appropriate treatment regimes.