Via The New Indian Express, a report from Bangalore: After dengue, it could be Leptospirosis.
Even as the city is battling dengue, a suspected case of leptospirosis has been reported at a private hospital in the city.
According to the doctors, the patient contracted the bacterial disease in Andhra Pradesh and came to Bangalore for treatment.
A battery of tests is being conducted to confirm whether it is a case of leptospirosis. The piles of garbage on Bangalore streets have been attracting rats, which are notorious carriers of leptospirosis and other diseases.
Fears of an outbreak have mounted with rain, since leptospirosis bacteria can spread through rainwater contaminated with animal excreta.
According to Dr Chinnadurai, critical care medicine consultant at a private hospital, “The bacteria enters the human body through a wound or consumption of the infected water. The symptoms are similar to that of malaria — the patient first contracts fever, then develops jaundice and a type of meningitis that alters the mental behaviour of the patient.” Person-to-person transmission is rare.
