Leptospirosis as a Cause of Uveitis-Reply

(Continued from p 1130.)

In Reply. —Watt has called attention to leptospirosis as a potential cause of uveitis. Many subsets of uveitis, such as leptospirosis, Behçet's disease, leprosy, or onchocerciasis, are geographically or genetically restricted. A survey of 2608 patients with uveitis in the United States found none with serologic evidence for exposure to leptospirosis.¹ The major epidemiologic survey cited by Watt2 utilized data from two major reference laboratories, and identified only nine patients with leptospirosis and uveitis between 1949 and 1961 in the continental United States. It is unlikely, therefore, that I have greatly underestimated the prevalence of leptospirosis in my clinic population; nor do I recommend serologic studies for leptospirosis infection in the evaluation of patients with uveitis, unless a history of travel, exposure, or antecedent systemic illness suggests this diagnosis.