By Dolly Yasa
Bacolod City – Thirty out of the 31 cities and municipalities in the province of Negros Occidental have at least one suspected case of leptospirosis.
A report from the Negros Occidental Provincial Health Office furnished to the local media Friday indicated that from January to September 30, 2023, the number of deaths due to leptospirosis reached 17.
Leptospirosis is an infection caused by Leptospira, a type of bacteria. It is a zoonotic disease, meaning it can infect both humans and animals, like dogs.
The disease is mainly spread through exposure to the urine of an infected animal. In humans, this can happen due to contact with urine or contaminated soil or water.
Sometimes, leptospirosis causes mild flu-like symptoms or no symptoms at all. But it can also lead to serious complications, such as meningitis, and it can be fatal.
The PHO data showed that the province recorded 128 suspected cases so far, with Murcia town having 10 cases and five deaths, followed by Silay City also with 10 cases and 2 deaths.
Talisay City also has 10 cases but no fatalities.
The rest of the top 10 LGUs with leptospirosis cases are Himamaylan City (9), Kabankalan City (8 and 1 death), Bago City (7 cases and 1 death), Sipalay City (6 cases with 1 death), Salvador Benedicto (6 cases with 3 deaths), Cadiz City and La Carlota City (5 cases each with no deaths).
The age group with the most number of cases is 20-30 years and the case age range is from 0 to 70 years old.
The PHO also reported that aside from leptospirosis, HFMD or hand, foot, and mouth disease has also affected 30 out of 31 LGUs in the province.
Hand-Foot-Mouth Disease (HFMD) is a common childhood illness caused by a virus.
It easily spreads from person to person (contagious) when someone comes in contact with the body fluids of an infected person.
The province has 1776 suspected HFMD cases but no death has been reported.
La Carlota City has the highest number with 291 cases.
Silay City has 229, followed by Cauayan (206), Talisay City (161), Kabankalan City (159), Cadiz City (95), Manapla (91), Salvador Benedicto (66), Sipalay City (62), and San Carlos City (62).
On the other hand, 18 of the 31 LGUs have at least one suspected case of cholera.
The PHO reported that the total number of deaths due to cholera is 8 from 76 suspected cases, 17 of which were confirmed.
On dengue update, the PHO reported a 78.90 percent decrease in cases.
The number of reported cases as of September 30, 2023, is 1,158 compared to 4,431 last year.
The number of deaths so far this year is 7, the PHO report showed.
