A health expert warned Filipinos against rainy season infections like dengue and leptospirosis, as the weather shifts from summer to rainy season.
“Flood water is contaminated with rat urine wherein you have the leptospirosis. There’s also dengue which occurs year-round, no specific months,” Philippine College of Physicians president Rontgene Solante said in an interview.
Solante, an infectious disease expert, said dengue cases usually rise in highly urbanized areas like Metro Manila, Central Luzon, and Cebu.
“These are the hotspots we monitor every now and then, even with summer then shift immediately to rainy season. The shifting of weather, that is when mosquitoes are disturbed, they come out and reproduce quickly and people are more at risk for dengue,” he said.
The Department of Health reported dengue cases dropped to 5,211 on April 7 to 20 from 5,380 on March 24 to April 6.
A total of 59,267 dengue cases with 164 deaths have been recorded from Jan. 1 to May 4 this year.
Solante also warned everyone against Chikungunya and Zika infection which is caused by the same mosquito spreading Dengue.
Respiratory tract infections like Covid-19, pneumonia, and influenza are also common during rainy season.
“There’s a new one, the respiratory syncytial virus which can cause severe pneumonia especially among the elderly,” he said. – PNA
