HEALTH officials are alarmed by the increasing number of leptospirosis cases in Zamboanga City.

City Health Officer Dr. Rodel Agbulos said there are already 35 cases of leptospirosis with seven deaths registered in his office since January this year.

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He said the number of incidents this year is the highest within five years.

The latest fatality was a nursing student of a local university.

Agbulos said his office has recorded 21 leptospirosis cases last year with no mortality, which is way below compared to this year's number of cases.

In 2006, Agbulos said there were only 17 cases also with no mortality. Five cases were recorded in 2004 and 2005.

Agbulos said that most of this year's victims, including those who died, were adults.

He added that barangay San Roque has the highest number of cases among the 98 barangays in Zamboanga City.

The health officer enjoined the public to maintain cleanliness in their respective areas to prevent the occurrence and spread of leptospirosis.

He said leptospirosis could be prevented by maintaining cleanliness within "our respective surroundings."

He advised the residents to avoid contact with stagnant water in waterways and where water is deposited for more than a day, and mixed up with garbage and rain water where the possibility of rat's urine presence is high.

"It [leptospirosis] gains entry into the body through an open wound, eating of food contaminated and infected with rat urine," Agbulos said.

He said that a leptospirosis patient should make early consultation for immediate medication.

Leptospirosis has a wide range of symptoms and some infected persons may have no symptoms at all.

Leptospirosis is a biphasic disease that begins with flu-like symptoms that include fever, chills, intense headache, muscle pain, and reddish eyes.

The complications include meningitis, extreme fatigue, respiratory distress and renal interstitial tubular necrosis, which result to renal failure and often liver failure.

Agbulos has advised the parents of children to prevent them from playing with dirty water. (Bong Garcia)

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(December 3, 2008 issue)
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