MANILA — The number of leptospirosis cases in the country increased by 15 percent for the first 8 months this year, the Department of Health said Monday.

Some 1,467 cases of the disease were recorded from Jan. 1 to Aug. 20, the DOH said. There were 1,278 cases reported during the same period in 2021.

Of the total leptospirosis cases, Metro Manila accounted 19 percent or 279 cases, followed by Cagayan Valley and Western Visayas, which both have 174 cases or 12 percent.

In the recent period from July 24 to Aug. 20, where 106 cases were tallied, the same regions had the highest number of cases, except Western Visayas.

Metro Manila logged 36 new cases (34 percent), followed by Cagayan Valley with 12 cases (11 percent), and Davao Region with 10 cases (9 percent).

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According to the DOH, Bicol Region, Central Visayas, Eastern Visayas and Davao Region have breached the alert and epidemic threshold within the past 4 morbidity weeks. But no clustering was noted nationwide, it added.

A total of 205 leptospirosis-related deaths or a 14 percent case fatality rate have been reported. The deaths occurred in the following months:

• January: 14
• February: 11
• March: 23
• April: 32
• May: 29
• June: 29
• July: 53
• August: 14

Leptospirosis is an illness transmitted through mud or water contaminated by the urine of infected animals, the DOH said.

It is characterized by fever, headache, chills, muscle pains, conjunctival suffusion (red eyes), and less frequently by meningitis, rash, jaundice (yellowish discoloration of the skin and eyes), or kidney failure.

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