– risks of doling out prophylactics outweigh benefits, Ramsammy says
At present, the risks of distributing the antibiotic doxycyclin to thwart leptospirosis outweigh the benefits, but the Ministry of Health is continuing to monitor the situation to determine the right time to do so, Minister of Health Dr Leslie Ramsammy said.
Meantime, there have been 70 suspected cases of the bacterial disease with six deaths for the year, the minister said as he addressed the issue at a press briefing at the ministry’s boardroom yesterday. One woman, suspected to have contracted the infection, died on Saturday, and a post-mortem examination is to be done to confirm the presence of the disease. Four other persons, suspected to have contracted the disease are in the hospital. “All the four cases in the hospital right now are from non-flooded areas,” the minister emphasized.
He said the persons were from the East Bank Demerara, the East Coast Demerara (but not from a flood-affected community), another from Georgetown and another from the West Coast Demerara. Ramsammy contended that the cases could be seen as an occupational hazard as the persons are farmers, who also work close to animals.
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, diarrhea, or a rash. Should the disease go untreated patients could develop kidney damage, meningitis, liver failure, and respiratory distress.
The minister said that up to yesterday the distribution of prophylactics had not started as a technical team said it was not the time to do so. He said the team would meet two times daily to determine what action will be taken and further noted that there are dangers to using too much antibiotics as this can kill the good bacteria that assist the body and they have to balance the risks against the benefits.
At this time, he said, the risks of a large-scale distribution of doxycyclin outweigh the benefits but monitoring is ongoing. He said that in the cases of those suspected to have contracted the disease, the other family members have been placed on prophylactics and noted that there is an ongoing programme but as to whether this will be extended, has to be determined. Regions Two, Three, Four, Five, Six and Ten have seen cases of leptospirosis this year, he said.
The minister had earlier pointed out that the suspected cases of leptospirosis have been occurring sporadically and health authorities will be talking to the private sector to determine whether there had been a spike in cases and whether these are sporadic or if the disease is emerging in flood-hit areas. He noted that the suspected cases have not always come from flood-hit areas.
Meantime, as regards other health threats, Ramsammy stated that the dysentery-type of diarrhoea has not emerged as a major public health challenge and up to yesterday, the incidence of diarrhoea was less than 3% of what was dealt with.
With regard to the flood-hit community of Dochfour, Ramsammy stated that it is part of the Health Ministry’s response and teams have visited the area already and on Sunday it was determined that a health team will visit the community “every other day”. He said that at present, there is no community where the health situation warrants a visit from a team every day.
