A 17-year-old Worli resident has succumbed to leptospirosis, taking the death toll of the disease to four this monsoon season. The disease claimed three lives in June.
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“The boy had recently gone for an outing near Worli sea face and other areas where there was some waterlogging,” a civic health official said.
Leptospirosis is a bacterial infection that is transmitted to humans through rat and cattle urine and excreta. Most commonly, it is transmitted through unhealed wounds, abrasions and cuts, especially on the foot, when one wades through contaminated water.
The boy had fever for three days after his outing. He took treatment from a private medical practitioner on the first day, and later went to a local civic dispensary. He was advised to go to a tertiary care hospital as he had vomited blood. “The patient did not visit a hospital till the seventh day of his illness, when his condition was critical. He had severe respiratory distress and had began coughing up blood. He was put on ventilator support, but his condition did not improve,” said an official. The patient died on July 13 at KEM Hospital.
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However, leptospirosis will be confirmed as the cause of death only after the case is reviewed by a committee.
Following the death, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) screened 1,926 people in the area. It sprayed rodenticide in 17 burrows found in 248 houses and set rat traps.
Two cholera cases
The BMC has also reported two cases of cholera, the first of this monsoon season, from B Ward (Dongri) and E ward (Byculla, Mazgaon). Cholera is an infectious disease that causes severe diarrhoea, which leads to dehydration and even death in critical cases. The water-borne disease, also known as infectious gastroenteritis, is caused by the bacterium vibrio cholerae . Doctors advice against consuming food and drink from roadside vendors, and to boil water before consumption.