Rising leptospirosis cases in South Gujarat baffle doctors

Surat, Aug 6 (UNI) The increasing number of leptrospirosis cases from various districts in South Gujarat has baffled district health officials with the region reporting 20 deaths and 40 more being suspected of the disease, who are undergoing treatment in New Civil Hospital here.

Leptrospirosis is a bacterial infection and resulting from exposure to animal handling, doctors say.

The leptospira bacteria which causes the disese takes anywhere one week to 11 days to surface and can affect kidney and liver and can cause jaundice, says Dr Vikas Desai, a health activist in the city.

But recently the doctors in NCH have noticed that leptospira bacteria first attack lungs, instead of kidney or liver. This change in pattern of attack is a cause of worry for doctors.

According to Dr R K Shrivastava, head of the community medicine depertment at Government Medical College, the attack on lungs is the cause in recent leptrospirosis deaths.

''This has been noticed for the first time. If the virus attacks kidney or liver it is easy to treat. But it is very difficult if it attacks lungs,'' says Dr Shrivastava. Doctors at NCH say that when the infection affects lungs even ventilators cannot help them.

It is also noticed that a majority of patients affected by leptrospirosis are men and many of them were addicted to liquor. It was in 1995 that the first case of leptrospirosis was reported in South Gujarat.

Vijaya Kumar Gupta, a senior health official at Valsad says that the lack of awareness among public, especially the villagers is the major cause behind the spread of the disease.

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