Latest update February 18th, 2025 1:40 PM
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37 suspected lepto cases detected – CMO
By Sharmain Cornette
Since the current rainy season commenced, the Ministry of Health has detected 37 suspected cases of leptospirosis, 10 of which have since been confirmed.
Chief Medical Officer, Dr Shamdeo Persaud
This disclosure was made by Chief Medical Officer, Dr Shamdeo Persaud, during an exclusive interview with this newspaper yesterday.
According to Dr Persaud, the ministry began observing the cases around the middle of last month up until last weekend, when at least three of the suspected cases were confirmed.
Two persons suspected to have contracted the bacterial disease have since died, a situation which could have been prevented, Dr Persaud said, had they sought medical attention early.
He noted, too, that the efforts of medical experts to detect the disease are sometimes compounded when persons are diagnosed with chronic diseases.
He pointed out that the ministry was tasked with heightening the index of suspicion in both public and private medical institutions with regards to the leptospirosis disease.
The Chief Medical Officer warned that persons should not take symptoms of fever associated with joint and muscle pains and bloodshot eyes, among other traits, for granted, since they could very well be indicative of the presence of the disease.
He noted that some medical institutions are equipped with sensitive rapid-test methods which are carried out, so doctors are in a better position to recommend further laboratory tests to confirm or rule out any suspicion.
However, according to Dr Persaud, tests are not readily available, since they are sent abroad to the Centres for Disease Control, where they are confirmed and even the specific strain of the disease is identified.
And once the disease is detected, patients are always assured a cure, Dr Persaud insisted, even as he lamented the fact that some persons opt for medical attention when it is too late.
Patients, according to the doctor, are immediately provided with prophylaxis treatment. He added that adults are given doxcycyline and children are administered amoxillin. An individual’s treatment lasts for about three complete weeks.
But, according to Dr Persaud, the Health Ministry’s intervention does not stop at providing treatment, adding that copious follow-up attention is given to every case.
“I have a team of epidemiological nurses who visit all of these cases, and treatment is also administered to their families, and even their neighbours who are believed to be at high risk,” Dr Persaud related.
He cautioned, though, that not every person who develops joint pains and symptoms similar to the disease is in fact infected, adding that only a test can offer such a conclusion.
He noted that the ministry will not commence a mass prophylaxis treatment programme, but will rather administer treatment cautiously and to those who need it.
He explained that the leptospirosis germ matures and accumulates in areas that have been flooded, and once rain falls, the germ is ingested by animals, such as rats, that could spread the disease easily to foods such as fruits and vegetables, and even water.
Accordingly, the Ministry of Health has commenced education programmes to ensure that citizens are helping to prevent the spate of infection by washing their foods and are boiling or adding bleach to their water.
“We have to ensure that people are fully aware of the risks. We have to try and educate the public that the risk of contracting the disease is always there, even when there are intermittent rainfalls,” Dr Persaud asserted
In 2005, he said, the infection was centred mainly on the East Coast of Demerara; this time around, the disease seems to be occurring in about five or six areas at the same time. This development, according to the doctor, requires thorough investigation although it does not define an epidemic situation.
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