CHENNAI: : After the monsoon, in areas affected by flooding, though ailments such as malaria, dengue, typhoid and flu are commonly suspected and treated, a more common bacterial disease — leptospirosis — is often forgotten.

The common term for the disease is `rat fever' and it mimics symptoms of a number of other diseases, including jaundice. A wrong diagnosis could even prove fatal.

Walking barefoot in contaminated floodwater causes leptospirosis.

The bacteria enter through small abrasions and thrive in the body. Commonly found to affect the poor in the slums, the incidence is higher after even minor flooding.

"Hospitals close to slums bear the brunt of the disease," says a doctor.

A lack of testing kits in smaller hospitals hampers better diagnosis of the disease, doctors say.

Classfication

Leptospires are commonly classified as serovars. Some 240 varieties of serovars have been identified in the world. About 15 of these are reported pathogenic in our country.

Samples from smaller government hospitals are sent to Government General Hospital, the veterinary hospital or the Madhavaram unit of the hospital for testing, says consultant physician D.S. Somasekar.

Symptoms

As animals, particularly rodents are carriers, the bacteria spreads through overflowing drains and contaminated water.

A healthy person may not succumb to the disease but alcohol addicts might succumb to even minor infection.

It may lead to complication and produce hepatic failure, Dr. Somasekar says.

Improper treatment may result in the leptospires localising in the anterior chamber of the eye, meninges, kidney glomeruli, liver and endometrium.

Treatment

Imran, 25 years old, works in an abattoir in Adyar. After being sick for 25 days with jaundice, he was admitted to a private hospital.

Two days later, he suffered from oliguria leading to anuria, a condition where no urine is passed.

He was advised dialysis for renal failure. Meanwhile, his blood sample tested positive for leptospirosis and he was given 55 lakhs international unit of Benzyl Penicillin. He was discharged a week later.

Mohamed Ghouse, member of international and Indian Leptospirosis society says: "Water, being used by a larger group, causes the disease.

At least 200-300 samples go to various laboratories every day. Majority do not do the MAT confirmatory test, which requires 21 serovars prevalent in the area."

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