Rat Fever Grips Flood-hit Kerala: Leptospirosis Claims Over Two Dozen Lives, Alert Sounded
At least 40 people were reported to have diagnosed with rat fever in Kerala till Sunday.
Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 2: After floods, Kerala is battling rat fever or leptospirosis, a water-borne disease, which has claimed over two dozen lives across the state since August 1. Due to rat fever, as many as 28 people reported having died. The latest death was reported at the Kozhikode Medical College hospital where a woman died on Sunday morning due to the disease that transmits from animals to humans.
At least 40 people were reported to have diagnosed with rat fever in Kerala till Sunday. Kozhikode reported 28 such cases and the rest were from Alappuzha, Thrissur and Pathanamthitta. Following the outbreak of the water-borne disease, the state health directorate issued an alert in five districts - Kozhikode, Palakkad, Thrissur, Malappuram and Ernakulam. However, Health Minister K K Shailaja has assured that there was no need to panic. Here's How Kerala Floods Broke the Religious Barriers.
"Every hospital is stocked with all the required medicines," the minister was quoted as saying. She also advised people in the flood-hit areas to take precautions and a course of doxycycline. A person suffering from rat fever gets high fever, rashes and chills. Infected rats/rodents cause the disease which generally affects the people having liver or kidney diseases. A special isolation ward has been opened at the Kozhikode Medical College hospital to treat such patients. Kerala Floods: Contributions to Kerala CM's Distress Relief Fund Reach Rs 1,027 Crore.
With Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan leaving for medical treatment to the US, Industries Minister E P Jayarajan, the de facto number two in the government, told the media that elaborate arrangements had been made, and medicines would be given for free to all. According to Kerala health officials, around two million people in the state would have come in contact with the flood waters, and hence all of them should take preventive care.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 02, 2018 03:19 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).