With the heavy rains and floods, COVID-19 will temporarily take a back seat, as concerns for leptospirosis rise. With the inevitable wading in floodwaters during the heavy downpour Typhoon “Ulysses” (international name: Vamco) caused, the cases of this flood-borne disease are expected to increase dramatically.
Leptospirosis is usually transmitted to humans through the urine of rats. The leptospirosis bacteria in floodwaters infects people who wade in the floods, by entering through people’s cuts and skin abrasions. After a short incubation period, the patient presents with flu-like symptoms with fever, muscle pains and headache. This poses a diagnostic dilemma, since it’s difficult to…
Keep on reading: With the floods come deadly leptospirosis