释义 |
leptospira Bacteriology.|lɛptəʊˈspaɪərə| Pl. -spiræ. [mod.L., f. Gr. λεπτό-ς fine, small + σπεῖρα coil.] Any bacterium of the genus Leptospira (family Treponemataceæ), structurally similar to the genus Spirochæta and consisting of a few species either free-living or parasitic, of which L. icterohæmorrhagiæ is parasitic in rats and the cause of Weil's disease in man.
[1917H. Noguchi in Jrnl. Exper. Med. XXV. 759 It calls for a new genus, and on account of its fine and minute windings, the name Leptospira is suggested.] 1918Ibid. XXVII. 588 Figs. 1 to 4 are intended to show the appearance of the leptospiræ in an air-dried specimen. 1922Lancet 18 Nov. 1058/1 Uhlenhuth and Zuelzer record a leptospira (L. pseudoicterogenes) in salt springs. 1966Wright & Symmers Systemic Path. I. xxi. 629 Leptospirae are demonstrable in the blood or urine in only half the fatal cases [of Weil's disease]. Hence leptoˈspiral a., of, characteristic of, or caused by leptospiræ; leptospiral jaundice, infectious or spirochætal jaundice, Weil's disease.
1924Brit. Med. Jrnl. 23 Feb. 314/1 In sections of the liver..leptospiral forms were abundant. 1935Ibid. 24 Aug. 339/1 Men who have been exposed to risk of leptospiral infection. 1937Proc. R. Soc. Med. XXX. 746 Dr. J. Smith has informed us in a letter that he investigated an outbreak of leptospiral jaundice in a fox farm near Aberdeen, and that three foxes died of the disease. 1960Guardian 10 Nov. 9/4 Leptospiral jaundice (Weil's Disease)..is contracted from the urine of rats. 1973Times 31 Oct. 14/2 Some leptospiral serotypes cause serious disease in Man. |