THE Department of Health Cordillera (DOH-CAR) recorded four deaths in the region for the first two quarters of 2019 due to leptospirosis.
Geeny Anne Austria, Nurse 5 of DOH-CAR said of the four cases, two came from the Cordillera region while one came from Region 1 and another came from Region 2.
“Usually, leptospirosis is hepatorinal syndrome and once a person’s liver and kidneys is affected, he or she may require dialysis specially when it would be identified late, the patient would suffer from complications,” Austria said.
Leptospirosis is a bacterial disease that affects humans and animals. It is caused by bacteria of the genus Leptospira. In humans, it can cause a wide range of symptoms, some of which may be mistaken for other diseases. Some infected persons, however, may have no symptoms at all.
Meanwhile, a 1,309 percent increase in measles cases was recorded by the regional health department after it registered three deaths below nine month olds for the first two quarters of 2019.
“They were below nine months and who were not eligible for vaccination, one was eight months old while the other two were below seven months old and this was during the time when we had many cases of measles to which they were exposed to patients who had measles,” said Austria.
DOH is continuously finding ways to vaccinate children in the different parts of the region to protect them from measles.
Austria said symptoms of measles generally appear about seven to 14 days after a person is infected. Two or three days after symptoms begin, tiny white spots (Koplik spots) may appear inside the mouth of a patient with Koplik spots, an early sign of measles infection.
Aside from leptospirosis and measles, DOH-CAR called on the public particularly pet owners to be responsible pet owners, following two cases of death recorded from rabies.
“We had two suspect cases from rabies in the region. Rabies cases, once it sets in, the patient dies from it which is why we continue to remind the public to be responsible pet owners. If someone should be bitten by a dog, we devise them to clean the wound and go to the nearest health facility and undergo anti rabies vaccine shots to decrease the risk of infection,” Austria added.
Rabies is mainly a disease of animals. Humans get rabies when they are bitten by infected animals. At first there might not be any symptoms. But weeks, or even months after a bite, rabies can cause pain, fatigue, headaches, fever, and irritability.