Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Teodoro Herbosa on Thursday advised the public to avoid floodwater following reports of escalating leptospirosis cases with 84 deaths recorded from January up to June 15 this year.
“Do not wade or play in the flood to prevent [leptospirosis]. If it cannot be avoided, use boots or wash your body with soap and clean water immediately,” Herbosa said. He also urged local government units (LGUs) to declog their drainage systems and implement rodent control.
The DOH noted that the weekly case count of leptospirosis, a bacterial infection transmitted by many animals—such as rodents and other vermin—started rising amid the rainy season. Based on its monitoring as of June 15, the total number of leptospirosis cases stands at 878.
Herbosa said this is only around half of the number of cases (1,769) in the same period last year. Six cases were recorded between May 5-18, but this number surged to 60 from May 19 to June 1, until it reached 83 cases in the first two weeks of June.
Case counts may still increase with delayed reports, according to DOH. Except for the Zamboanga Peninsula and Northern Mindanao regions, all regions had a spike in leptospirosis cases over the previous month.
The symptoms of leptospirosis include fever, vomiting, nausea, muscle pain, and headache. Some cases have distinct pain in the calf muscles, and reddish eyes. Many of these symptoms can be mistaken for other diseases; some people have no symptoms.
It generally takes between two to 30 days to get sick after having contact with the bacteria that cause leptospirosis. This zoonotic disease affects both animals and humans caused by the leptospira bacterium found in contaminated water or soil.
Without treatment, leptospirosis in people can lead to kidney damage, meningitis (inflammation of the membrane around the brain and spinal cord), liver failure, trouble breathing, and even death.