Aside from the danger of being buried in a mudslide or washed away by torrential floods, or electrocuted by a severed power cable that touches the water, there’s another risk to life during flooding: leptospirosis.
Several government hospitals, including the National Kidney and Transplant Institute and hospitals in the city of Manila, have been overwhelmed by leptospirosis patients and have started turning away emergency cases.
Amid the flooding, there has been a surge in leptospirosis cases in Manila, where 197 have been recorded since Aug. 20, with five deaths recorded since Aug. 24 alone. Yesterday, 89 new infections were reported in the city, one of the country’s most densely populated. Mayor Isko Moreno has informed the public that there’s a long waiting line in the city-run hospitals, which accept patients who are not Manila residents.
Early intervention is critical, so the city government has deployed health center personnel to seek out residents who have been exposed to floodwaters and are showing symptoms of leptospirosis.
The city reportedly has 389,000 capsules of doxycycline for the early treatment of the bacterial infection. Whether this will be enough remains to be seen. Even as there’s a pause in the heavy rainfall and flooding, the number of patients is expected to rise, since leptospirosis has an incubation period of up to two weeks.
The Leptospira bacteria enters the body through the eyes, nose and mouth, and through even minor scrapes in the skin exposed to water or soil contaminated by the urine of infected animals, particularly rodents, although dogs, pigs and cows may also be carriers.
Health experts have advised those who have waded in floods to watch out for high fever and chills, red eyes, vomiting, nausea, diarrhea, muscle ache, knee pain and severe headache.
In its severe phase, the disease causes liver damage and kidney failure, manifested in jaundice or yellow skin and eyes, bleeding, meningitis and breathing difficulty. Severe cases need hospitalization and intravenous treatment and feeding. The disease can progress quickly into the critical stage.
People who can’t avoid exposure to floodwaters are advised to wear rubber boots. Residents of communities where floods refuse to recede are advised to use over their regular clothing waterproof waders or bib overalls used by fishermen. These are available online and in Manila’s Binondo and Divisoria districts.
Yesterday, Malacañang announced the activation of fast lanes for leptospirosis patients in 33 government hospitals in Metro Manila, Central Luzon, Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley and the Cordillera Administrative Region.
Prolonged flooding has also caused the spread of dengue. Like leptospirosis, early detection and treatment can save lives.