One of the two persons suspected to have the bacterial disease leptospirosis has since passed away at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC) but according to Minister of Health Dr Leslie Ramsammy the person was not from one of the flood-affected areas.
Dr Ramsammy said the 65-year-old woman was from the East Bank Demerara and she died on Saturday afternoon. It is yet to be confirmed if she was indeed stricken with the disease.
Meanwhile, the health minister said that his medical team on the flood-hit East Coast yesterday sent one person to be monitored at the hospital even though he said the person “is not very sick and only has some fever.” He said they are continuing to monitor the flood-affected areas and are cautioning persons to be careful and to take all the necessary precautions.
Dr Ramsammy said that the other person hospitalised at the GPHC is in a stable condition and out of danger. He said that the woman who died was first admitted to a private hospital and it was only after her condition deteriorated and the hospital could do nothing for her that she was transferred to the GPHC in a very “low condition.”
On Saturday Dr Ramsammy told reporters that while there is no need for people to panic there is need for all affected persons to take note.
He had stated that since January some 68 cases of leptospirosis, which had caused a number of deaths in the 2005 Great Flood, were detected mainly from areas in proximity to markets. And while the recent flood has not triggered a string of new cases Dr Ramsammy had stated that a spike in the suspected leptospirosis infections can occur.
And even with stagnant floodwaters in communities such as Dochfour, East Coast Demerara and the water rising in villages in the lower and central Corentyne areas the ministry is yet to start distributing the antibiotic doxycyclin which can be used to thwart the infection.
Leptospirosis is a bacterial disease that affects humans and animals; an outbreak of the disease is usually caused by exposure to water contaminated with the urine of infected animals, and many different kinds of animals carry the bacterium that causes it. Leptospira organisms have been found in cattle, pigs, horses, dogs and rodents.
Symptoms include high fever, severe headaches, chills, muscle aches, and vomiting, and may include jaundice (yellow skin and eyes), red eyes, abdominal pain, diarrhoea, or a rash. Should the disease go untreated patients could develop kidney damage, meningitis, liver failure, and respiratory distress.
