The Hindu : Front Page : Uncommon bacterial disease surfaces

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Aug 02, 2006

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Uncommon bacterial disease surfaces

Y. Mallikarjun

A number of cases of leptospirosis detected in Hyderabad after lab tests

HYDERABAD: Leptospirosis, a bacterial disease stated to be uncommon in Hyderabad, has surfaced even as the State is in the grip of a viral fever epidemic.

While a spurt in water-borne and other fevers is normally witnessed every year during the monsoon, an "unusually high number" of viral fevers, apart from chikungunya, have been noticed this year, physicians from leading corporate hospitals told The Hindu here on Tuesday.

According to Dr. K. V. Kamesh of CARE hospitals, there were a very large number of viral fever cases, compared to previous years. The number of patients with skin rashes was also higher. "Normally we don't see so many patients with rashes on account of viral fever."

He said that laboratory tests had confirmed at least 17 cases of leptospirosis. "It is uncommon in Hyderabad unlike Mumbai where a separate ward is set up every rainy season to treat patients at KEM hospital. It is a new problem."

The symptoms include fever, headache, joint pains, shivering and red eyes. It could lead to liver damage and kidney failure in severe cases. The disease, contracted through exposure to water contaminated with the urine of an infected rat or other animals, could prove fatal, if untreated. Penicillin or Doxycycline drugs are administered to control it.

Dr. Aftab Ahmed of Apollo hospitals said there was a "very high incidence of chikungunya and dengue" cases this year. Dengue could be life-threatening at times due to shock syndrome and bleeding episodes. However, this haemorrhagic manifestation was not seen in chikungunya here though it was reported in some countries. There could be relapse in 10-15 per cent of the patients due to chronic arthritis.

`Not alarming'

Even as private hospitals across the State are admitting hundreds of new cases of viral fever, the Government's stand is that the situation is not alarming. Superintendent of the Government-run Institute of Tropical Diseases P. P. Prasad, while agreeing that the incidence of viral fevers was higher than previous years, maintained that the situation was not alarming. The increase was not adequate enough to press the "panic button".

Additional Director, Health, D. Ramesh Chandra said leptospirosis was reported two years ago in Chittoor and Karimnagar districts. Another senior official, however, maintained that there was no spurt in vector-borne diseases.

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