The heavy rains that have fallen so far this year have produced an outbreak of leptospirosis, a treatable disease caused by infected urine from rodents and other animals that is carried by flood waters or food contaminated with the toxic urine. Any open wound can be infected as it comes into contact with the dirty water and the infection can lead to meningitis and even death.
So far this year, 24 persons have died in the Dominican Republic from infections resulting from leptospirosis. Leptospirosis is not contagious from person to person. This year’s rains have produced a 41% increase in leptospirosis cases compared to 2023.
Dengue, spread by mosquitos, has also been deadly in the country with eight deaths reported so far this year. There have been nearly 7,800 cases of dengue, but only 276 cases of leptospirosis, so the mortality rate for the latter is much higher.
Worldwide, and mostly in the tropics, leptospirosis usually has an incidence of 10 per 100,000 population. But in the Dominican Republic, this number is nearly 19% or almost double the world average.
In places like San Jose de Ocoa, the number of cases is highest, at 196.87 per 100,000, followed by Puerto Plata at 90 per 100,000, and Montecristi at 79 per 100,000.
High fever, headache, bleeding, muscle pain, chills, red eyes and vomiting are some symptoms.
Without treatment, leptospirosis can lead to kidney and liver damage and even death. Antibiotics clear the infection.
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Listin Diario
CDC
24 June 2024