DOH highlights leptospirosis concern in Caraga
By NiΓ±a Jonalyn Gambe-Diamante
BUTUAN CITY (PIA) — The Department of Health-Center for Health Development (DOH-CHD) Caraga shared the regional health updates—one of which is leptospirosis to the members of the Caraga Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Committee (RDRRMC) during the recent 2nd quarter meeting of the RDRRMC Technical Working Group (TWG).
Doctor Amethyst Kathleen Alicante, section head of the Regional Epidemiology Surveillance Unit (RESU) and Health Emergency Management Staff (HEMS) of DOH-CHD Caraga, discussed leptospirosis which poses a serious health risk in the region.
Leptospirosis is a bacterial infection caused by the Leptospira bacteria. It spreads through contact with water or soil contaminated with the urine of infected animals, such as rodents, livestock, and pets. In the case of Caraga, leptospirosis is more commonly caused by infected household rodents.
In her presentation, Alicante outlined the origins of leptospirosis, its transmission, prevention strategies, and available treatment options.
She said, “With reference to the recent data of DOH-CHD Caraga covering from January 1 to May 31 of the current year, they have recorded 223 cases of leptospirosis in the entire region.”
“The province of Surigao del Sur recorded the highest number of leptospirosis cases with 76 or 34 percent of the total cases in the region. This was followed by Agusan del Sur with 45 cases and Surigao del Norte with 38,” Alicante added. “A year-to-year comparison of last year and this year’s data illustrated even more alarming numbers as the volume of leptospirosis infections in the three provinces ballooned this year with a 407 percent increase in Surigao del Sur, 125 percent in Agusan del Sur, and 680 percent increment in the province of Surigao del Norte.”
According to DOH-CHD’s assessment, these three provinces have been known to be flood-prone areas, which aligns with their findings wherein 43 percent of the cases were due to the patients’ exposure to contaminated flood water.
“Residents situated in low-lying areas should be vigilant in times of flooding. This will not only cause possible damage to their properties, but the diseases they can get could also be very harmful—such as leptospirosis,” explained Alicante.
Despite the statistics, leptospirosis has not been widely known to be a pressing health issue in the region unlike that of monkeypox. Hearing Alicante’s thorough discussion about the disease, the Caraga RDRRMC has recognized the severity of such concern and has committed to initiate a region-wide information drive to educate the public on the risks of leptospirosis and the counter-measures to avoid being infected.
“We would like to call on our partners in information dissemination headed by the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) Caraga to sit down with DOH-CHD and the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) Caraga, being the RDRRMC chair, to include the leptospirosis crisis in the crafting of our Caraga RDRRMC strategic communication plan,” recommended Diana A. Lim, operations chief of OCD Caraga.
Other member-agencies present during the meeting likewise committed to impart the public health updates to their respective agencies and clientele to help mitigate the spread of leptospirosis. (NJGD, PIA Caraga)
