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Infections and the kidney: a tale from the tropics

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Abstract

Tropical infections are caused by a variety of bacteria, viruses and parasitic organisms across varying geographical regions and are more often reported in adults than in children. Most of the infections are acute, presenting as a febrile illness with involvement of multiple organ systems, including the kidney. The gamut of renal manifestations extends from asymptomatic urinary abnormalities to acute kidney injury and—albeit rarely—chronic kidney disease. Tropical infections can involve the glomerular, tubulointerstitial and vascular compartments of the kidney. Leptospirosis, malaria, dengue, rickettsial fever and schistosomiasis are the most prevalent tropical infections which affect the kidneys of children living in the tropics. In this review we discuss renal involvement in these most prevalent tropical infections.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to Dr. Francesco Emma for critical review of the manuscript.

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  1. Department of Pediatric Nephrology, St John’s National Academy of Health Sciences, Bangalore, India

    Nivedita Kamath & Arpana Iyengar

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  1. Nivedita Kamath
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Correspondence to Arpana Iyengar.

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Answers: 1. a; 2. b; 3. b; 4. a; 5. b

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Kamath, N., Iyengar, A. Infections and the kidney: a tale from the tropics. Pediatr Nephrol 33, 1317–1326 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00467-017-3785-2

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