Officials Urged to Stop the Rise of Flood-borne Diseases

MANILA: A senior government official on Tuesday called mayors and other local officials to help end the alarming increase in the number of cases of flood-transmitted diseases, leptospirosis, by setting up a more efficient system of garbage collection. Health Secretary Francisco Duque explained that uncollected waste and floods are major factors in the spread of the rat population whose waste and urine are responsible for the spread of leptospirosis. "The fact that people are dying of leptospirosis is really alarming, but what is saddening is that it is a preventable disease as long as everyone is doing their part." Duque added, adding that there were no new additions to the 99 deaths reported previously out of 1,030 cases nationwide. Cases continued to increase with Metro Manila, consisting of 15 cities and a city with a total population of 12 million, representing 234 patients with 38 deaths reported from January 1 to June 29, said Duque. a total of 2,495 cases were reported from January to December 2017, with 19.2% of Metro Manila cases.

Due to the influx of patients, some public hospitals like the National Kidney Transplant Institute and Manila's gym in a room and designated "express lanes" inhabited by doctors and nurses.

In this light, Duque said to have an adequate and effective disposal and collection provision "can certainly control the rodent in But he assured that there is still no d & # 39; Epidemic but only a "clustering" of cases in some communities, which means that the spread of the disease is prevalent only in the following cases:

Duque also urged people to prevent their children from swimming in the flood waters and to avoid wading in the waters unless they use rubber boots, especially now that the country is experiencing the rainy season.Experts have indicated that the symptoms of leptospirosis are similar to those of influenza: high fever, muscle pain, bloodshot eyes, chills, severe headache, vomiting, diarrhea and yellowish discolouration of the skin., brain lesions, internal hemorrhages massiv and finally died.