Leptospirosis in Malaysia

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“Leptospirosis”. I am memorizing this word so that I can spread this word to my friends and acquaintances. I hope our government does something similar, of course, on a larger scale. No, not the memorizing part but the spreading of the word. This word is the name given to the disease caused by the leptospirosis bacteria, which is found in rat urine. When a person, especially with wounds, came into contact with water contaminated with these bacteria, he is in serious danger of getting this disease. 

The symptoms are fever with flu, kidney problems, lung-bleeds due to infection, as well as, meningitis and jaundice. Other symptoms include muscle pain, headache and vomiting. 

This disease has been with us for all these years, looking at the data given to the media by the Health Ministry ; 263 cases in 2004 with 20 dead, and had been steadily increasing yearly. Last year it was 1418 cases with 62 deaths! However, our government seems to have not given enough attention to the eradication or suppression of the disease. Rats are still being spotted roving the drains, near unkempt eateries. Rubbish heaps are still being found near rivers and other bathing spots. And, only recently, leptospirosis has been made a ‘notifiable’ disease, where doctors coming across suspected cases, should immediately, notify the health authorities. 

The disease of leptospirosis was only widely mentioned in the papers when 8 people, from a rescue team of 83, died from coming into contact with the bacteria, leptospirosis, in June 2010. The team was searching for a missing person in the waterfalls of Lubuk Yu Recreational Forest near Maran, Pahang. Another close-knitted bacterium, the melioidosis was also mentioned as the cause of so many fatalities. 

Only lately, the deaths caught the public’s attention, as, initially, the cause of the deaths was not known, and the deaths were termed as ‘mysterious’. The cause and source of the disease have now been clearly defined – people coming into contact with rat urine-contaminated water get it. The next step for the government is to disseminate the information to the whole nation, and emphasize on the eradication of the rodents. Accentuate on the cleanliness of rivers, drains, eateries, as well as, on the hygiene of the living quarters of the populace. Now is the time, on the heels of the tragic deaths, to use the momentum, to get the people to know and realize the real importance of surroundings with good sanitation, of cleanliness. 

The Health authorities and the government, as a whole, should immediately take various actions to get the nation clean and disease-free. We, the public, who are already aware of leptospirosis, should clean up our backyard first! Let's go! Let's win the rat-race! Not only here in Malaysia but throughout the whole wide world!