104 succumb to leptospirosis in Surat District in last two months

Surat, Sep.14 (ANI): Leptospirosis has claimed the lives of 104 people in the area around Surat, Gujarat, in the last two months.

On Wednesday, the leptospirosis patient toll was 545, with 12 dying in the last 24 hours.

Currently, the patients are being treated at the city's civil hospitals.

Dr. Bharat Patel said leptospirosis is a common disease that occurs during the monsoon season in the rural belt of south Gujarat.

Dr. Patel added that rats and cattle are the permanent carriers of leptospira bacteria and humans get infected from faeces of cattle and rats that transmit the bacteria to places where water logging occurs after a spell of incessant rainfall.

Later, the leptospirosis infection spreads to human body through open wounds, the eyes and the mouth.

Swelling in the leg and fever are common symptoms of the disease, as it lasts for four to five days. Bacteria infects the vital organs after this period.

In 2007, 25 percent of the 523 leptospirosis patients succumbed to the disease.

In 2010, 20 percent of the 509 leptospirosis-suffering patients died. (ANI)