MLA Ashish Shelar claims leptospirosis cases rise in Mumbai suburbs, but doctors deny it

While eight people died of the disease last year, the BMC said this year has seen three leptospirosis deaths till July 15

After Ashish Shelar, a Member of Legislative Assembly from Bandra, took to Twitter last week to say that seasonal diseases like leptospirosis were on the rise in suburbs, doctors in the city said quite the opposite.

The infection is generally transmitted through contaminated water. (HT FILE)

While warning the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on July 18, Shelar tweeted, “H1N1, leptospirosis, dengue on the rise. Requested @MCGM_BMC and all relevant agencies to actively tackle and spread awareness.”

But doctors in Bandra said there is no unusual spike in leptospirosis. Dr Pradip Shah, head of the department of medicine at Fortis Hospital, said he has not come across any patient who has been tested positive with leptospirosis this monsoon.

“This year, more people are getting infected by H1N1 virus and not leptospirosis. Last year, out of all the reported cases of fever, around 50%-60% were tested positive for dengue, 20% for malaria and 2.5% for typhoid, leptospirosis and hepatitis,” said Shah.

Dr Prahlad Prabhudesai, consultant chest physician at Lilavati Hospital, said they had come across one person who had leptospirosis around three weeks ago and the patient recovered from the illness. “The reason why not too many incidents of the infection have been detected this year could be that the city hasn’t experienced severe water logging yet,” said Prabhudesai.

Leptospirosis spreads when a person with a wound comes in contact with water or soil contaminated by the leptospirosis bacteria, which is found in the urine of infected animals (which includes cattle, dogs, goats and rats).

While eight people died of the disease last year, the BMC said this year has seen three leptospirosis deaths and no specific trend has been observed as the incidents have been sporadic. However, in 2015, the worst affected wards were P South and North (Goregaon/Malad) and R South and North (Borivli/Dahisar). In 2016, total 267 cases of the disease were detected but till July 15 this year, 76 such cases have been found in the city.

Rajan Naringrekar, insecticide office, BMC, said they have poisoned around 1,29,764 rat burrows in the city from January 1 to July 15 to ensure that infection of leptospira through rats is reduced. “People need to follow a 4D model when it comes to rats to stay safe this season – deny entry, deny shelter, deny food and destruction of burrows,” said Naringrekar.