MORE than a hundred cases of leptospirosis with 26 deaths since January this year have been reported by Zamboanga City Health Office (CHO).
“We have a total of 26 deaths reported that gives as a case fatality rate of 18 percent,” Dr. Dulce Amor Miravite, CHO chief, said Friday.
Miravite said most of the infected individuals are aged between 20 and 29, while 120 or 86 percent of the 141 cases are males.
Miravite said 62 of the 141 cases were recorded after the two-day downpour of Typhoon Paeng on Oct. 27-28.
Dr. Elmeir Jade Apolinario, City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office chief, said earlier the flood affected 56 of this city’s 98 barangays.
Leptospiroris is caused by the Leptospira spirochetes bacteria that is spread through rat urine.
Its mode of transmission includes wading in contaminated floodwaters and ingesting contaminated food or water.
Miravite said most of the cases reported were in Barangay Tumaga, Pasonanca, Guiwan, Tetuan, Tugbungan, Santa Maria, Ayala, Talon-Talon and Tulungatung.
