DOH notes 22% rise in leptospirosis from January to August

MANILA – The Philippines has logged 1,411 leptospirosis cases from January 1 to August 6 this year, the
Department of Health (DOH) said on Friday.

In a Viber message to reporters, the DOH said this translates to a 22 percent increase from 1,157 cases
in the same period last year.

A total of 188 deaths due to leptospirosis were reported nationwide – 14 in January; 11 in February; 23
in March; 32 in April; 29 in May; 29 in June; and 50 in July.

Most of the cases were reported in the National Capital Region (NCR) with 263 or 19 percent; Western
Visayas, 171 or 12 percent; and Cagayan Valley 169 or 12 percent.

From July 10 to August 6, about 251 cases were recorded, 73 or 29 percent of which were from the NCR;
35 or 14 percent from Central Luzon; and 22 or 9 percent from Cagayan Valley.

The DOH said Bicol region, Central Visayas, and Davao region breached the alert and epidemic threshold
within the past four morbidity weeks.

However, no clustering was noted nationwide.