Leptospirosis cases up 300% in QC

Leptospirosis cases in Quezon City have gone up by more than 300 percent after parts of the city were submerged in floodwaters last month due to torrential monsoon rains.

Officials of the city health department’s epidemiology unit recorded 346 cases from January to Sept. 1 this year, up by 343.6 percent compared to the same period in 2011.

In a report prepared by Dr. Rolly Cruz, he said that out of the 346 persons infected with the disease this year, 15 died as compared to 17 in 2011.

Most of the victims, he noted, were from District II which reported 110 cases. District I had 86 cases, District II-A, 63 cases; District III, 27 cases; and District IV, 60 cases.

Barangays Bagong Silangan and Tatalon, which were hardest hit by last month’s flooding, are under Districts II and IV, respectively. Jeannette I. Andrade