During the rainy season, flooding may occur in many areas and many people may be at risk of getting “Leptospirosis“. Even though there is no rice planting in the city, if there is flooding and there are many house rats, there is also a risk of getting Leptospirosis. Today, เล่น UFABET ผ่านมือถือ สะดวกทุกที่ ทุกเวลา will take everyone to learn more about Leptospirosis. What are the treatment and prevention methods? Follow along and read this article.
What is Leptospirosis?
Leptospirosis is a disease caused by bacteria called “Leptospira”. Which affects both humans and animals. It can infect many types of animals such as dogs, rats, cows, buffalo, pigs, goats, sheep, and house pets, etc. However, it is most commonly found in rats. Which are a source of germs, hence the name “Leptospirosis”.
Most animals that are susceptible to infection are young mammals or young animals that have never received immunity from their mothers. Outbreaks are usually found during the rainy season to winter because during. This time the ground is wet and there is stagnant water. Which is conducive to the growth and accumulation of germs in nature.
Leptospirosis is most commonly found in provinces where rice is grown. Areas where people have to walk in water, or areas where water is stagnant where disease vectors are prevalent. In urban areas where there is no rice growing, if there is flooding and rats are roaming around, there is also a chance of getting Leptospirosis.
Is Leptospirosis contagious?
Leptospirosis is rarely transmitted from person to person. It is mostly transmitted through direct contact with the urine, blood, or tissue of infected animals, or through contact. With environments contaminated with the germ, such as eating contaminated food or water, breathing in urine vapors or contaminated fluids, and entering through mucous membranes such as the eyes, mouth, or through skin wounds and scratches.
Sometimes the organism can survive for months after being excreted in the urine of an infected animal without showing symptoms, but can remain infectious for weeks or even the life of the animal.
Symptoms of Leptospirosis
Some people who are infected with leptospirosis may not show any symptoms at all. Those who do have symptoms can range from mild to severe, even life-threatening. Up to 90 percent of people who get leptospirosis have mild symptoms. Severe leptospirosis affects 5 to 10 percent of people who are infected.
The progression of the disease can be divided into two stages:
- First stage (Leptospiremic phase) the first 4-7 days will have symptoms of sudden high fever, headache, confusion, severe muscle aches, especially the muscles in the back, calves and neck, nausea, vomiting, red eyes, usually appear in the first 3 days of the disease and can last up to 1 week, yellow eyes, yellow body, stiff neck, low blood pressure in patients with severe symptoms, red rash, swollen lymph nodes, enlarged liver and spleen (may occur but not often).
- The second phase (Immune phase) patients will start to create proteins specific to Leptospirosis. This occurs about 1 week after the onset of fever. There will be a period when the fever subsides for about 1-2 days and then the fever returns. During this phase, patients usually have symptoms of headache, low-grade fever, nausea, and vomiting (the symptoms are usually less severe than the initial symptoms). Meningitis, uveitis, and abnormal liver and kidney function may occur. This phase can last up to 30 days, but this symptom does not occur in all patients and can be divided into 2 groups: those with jaundice and those without.
How to treat Leptospirosis?
Treatment is with antibiotics. They should be given as soon as possible, no later than 4 days after the onset of symptoms. The duration of treatment should be at least 7 days.
Early administration of antibiotics can reduce the severity of the disease and prevent complications. Penicillin is considered the most effective antibiotic for treatment. For those allergic to penicillin, doxycycline may be given instead.
Patients with severe symptoms are often diagnosed late and/or treated late (mostly with symptoms lasting 4 days or more) and/or have complications, such as jaundice and high serum creatinine levels. Patients with severe symptoms have a mortality rate as high as 15-40%, but with standard medical treatment, the mortality rate can be reduced to only 5%.
How to protect yourself from infection?
Avoid contact with water or environments that may be contaminated with animal urine that may contain Leptospirosis, such as wading through water, stepping through mud, or soaking in water for long periods of time. If you have wounds on your body or just abrasions or scratches, avoid going into the water. If you must wade through water, wear boots to prevent water from getting on the wound, and be careful not to let water collect in the boots you wear.
Eliminate trash to prevent rats from living there. Eliminate rats in their habitats. Avoid swimming in water sources that may be contaminated with Leptospirosis. People who work at risk of disease should wear rubber gloves and boots. Avoid working in water. If you have to wade through water for a long time or need to work in such conditions, you should wear protective gear. If you go soaking or wading in water that may be contaminated with Leptospirosis, you should quickly shower and clean your body and dry yourself.