Outbreaks of disease possible after floods, 2-3 thousand infected every year in Thailand, 15,000 cases & 400 deaths in last outbreak (1997, 1999).
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| Photo above of leptospirosis bacteria magnified 200 times with dark-field microscope. Photo below of kidney tissuewith leptospirosis present. |
Expert warns of leptospirosis by Apiradee Treerutkuarkul
Poor sanitation and garbage disposal in Bangkok's flood-hit communities could result in an outbreak of osteoporosis, a health expert has warned.
Sumet Ongwandee of the Disease Control Department (DCD) said people should take precautions against leptospirosis and wear protective gear if they want to return home after the waters recede.
"The waterborne disease can be hazardous to people," he said.
Osteoporosis can be transmitted to both humans and animals by direct contact with the urine of infected rodents in contaminated flood water.
The disease gets into the body through cuts and wounds as well as the eyes, nose and mouth, Dr Sumet told the Bangkok Post.
Symptoms are a high fever, severe headache, muscle pain, chills, redness of the eyes, abdominal pain, jaundice, skin haemorrhages, vomiting, diarrhoea and a rash. Severe cases can be fatal if not treated immediately, he said.
Leptospirosis is very worrying as the floodwater has hit crowded urban communities in the capital.
"So garbage disposal management is needed, for it is the first measure that will help control rodents infected with the bacteria from spreading the disease to people," he said.
Dr Sumet said people should carefully protect themselves by wearing rubber boots, gloves and masks when wading through contaminated floodwater and dispose of garbage to help prevent themselves and others from catching the waterborne disease.
Apart from Bangkok's flood-hit communities, health authorities are speeding up monitoring for leptospirosis in 46 flood-hit provinces nationwide.
Surveillance teams of the Bureau of Epidemiology found a leptospirosis case in Nakhon Sawan after the floodwaters receded there.
Another case with similar symptoms to leptospirosis was reported on Nov 18 in Ayutthaya's Pachi district and is still under investigation, the bureau said.
Bangkok has in the past experienced three leptospirosis outbreaks after flooding. The last outbreak in the capital was reported in 1964, said Wirongrong Jirakul, of Mahidol University's faculty of tropical medicine.
Dr Wirongrong said major outbreaks in the country were reported between 1997 and 1999. Up to 15,000 cases and 400 deaths were reported.
In Thailand, an estimated 2,000-3,000 people are infected with leptospirosis every year.
The disease is endemic in the Northeast where farmers work in fields and rice paddies without proper protection. Leptospirosis cases usually peak during the monsoon season.
(Source: Bangkok Post, Expert warns of leptospirosis, 23/11/2011, Apiradee Treerutkuarkul, link)
Disease Prevention Vocabulary
leptospirosis - a bacterial disease spread by contact with water or soil contaminated by the urine or body fluids of infected animals such as dogs, rodents (rats, mice), pigs and cattle; on infection the microorganism
can be found in blood for the first 7 to 10 days and then moves to the kidneys after which the microorganism can be found in urine, "complications include meningitis, extreme fatigue, hearing loss, respiratory distress,
kidney and liver failure. (See Wikipedia and CDC factsheet and pronunciation)
complication - a medical problem that happens as the result of a disease
dark-field microscope - a method of using microscopes with the area (field) around the object being viewed (specimen) being dark:
dark field microscopy is a very simple yet effective technique and well suited for uses involving live and unstained biological samples, such as a smear from a tissue culture or individual water-borne single-celled organisms.
Considering the simplicity of the setup, the quality of images obtained from this technique is impressive." (See Wikipedia)
tissue - a group of cells located in one place in an animal or plant with similar appearance and function (See Wikipedia)
kidney tissue urine - a liquid produced by the kidneys during the filtration of blood and removal of waste products and regulation of water content, electrolyte content, blood pressure, etc; testing of the urine is used to detect diseases and drug use (urinalysis) น้ำปัสสาวะ (See Wikipedia)
body fluids - fluids inside the body of a living person or animal such as blood, lymph, cerebrospinal fluid, sweat, saliva vomit, urine, tears, phlegm, mucus, semen, vaginal secretions, earwax, gastric juice, etc (See Wikipedia)
contaminated - made dirty, polluted or poisonous by the addition of a chemical, waste or infection
contaminated floodwater
disposal - getting rid of something or, in this case, making an explosive safe การกำจัด garbage disposal
dispose - to throw away or get rid of ทิ้ง dispose of garbage
sanitation - the practice of keeping places clean and healthy (especially by providing a sewage removal and clean drinking water) (See Wikipedia)
poor sanitation and garbage disposal in Bangkok's flood-hit communities
outbreak - the sudden start of a disease, a war, violence, etc. การระบาดของโรค an outbreak of leptospirosis
precautions - things done to protect people or things against possible harm or trouble การป้องกันไว้ก่อน
take precautions - do things to protect against dangerous things
gear - the special clothes and equipment that you use for a particular activity
protective gear - special clothes and equipment used to protect against dangerous things
take precautions against leptospirosis and wear protective gear
recede - to move back; to move further away into the distance ถอยหลัง
return home after the waters recede
bear - carried , borne - carried by, waterborne - carried by water
waterborne disease - a disease carried by the water
hazardous - can cause harm, dangerous, especially to people's health or safety hazardous to people
transmitted - sent, pass from one place to another disease transmitted - a disease passes from one person to other people
direct contact - touching someone or something สัมผัส
infected - having a disease transmitted from someone else ซึ่งติดเชื้อ urine of infected rodents - the urine of rats and mice that have the disease
leptospirosis can be transmitted to both humans and animals by direct contact with the urine of infected rodents in contaminated flood water.
symptom - informal definition: an indication or sign of a disease; something that is wrong with your body that shows that you have a disease (strict medical definition: a departure from normal function or feeling which is noticed by a patient, indicating the presence of disease or abnormality.
A symptom is subjective, observed by the patient, and not measured อาการ, อาการของโรค (See Wikipedia)
fever - an abnormally high body temperature ไข้
high fever
severe - very serious and worrying ที่รุนแรง ที่น่าเป็นห่วง headache - pain in the head or neck; when it feels like your brain and head hurts อาการปวดศีรษะ, อาการปวดหัว (See Wikipedia)
severe headache
chills - when the body shakes (1. when the body shakes because it is cold, shivering; 2. a shaking occurring during a high fever. It occurs because cytokines and prostaglandins are released as part of an immune response and increase the set point for body temperature in the hypothalamus (See Wikipedia)
abdominal - involving the front part of your body below your waist ช่องท้อง (ช่องพระนาภี)
abdomen (noun) - stomach, belly; the part of your body below your chest where your stomach and intestines are ท้อง, พุง, ช่องท้อง, ส่วนท้อง (See Wikipedia)
abdominal (adjective) abdominal pain - stomach pain
jaundice - a yellowish colouring of the skin and whites of the eyes caused by increased levels of bilirubin in the blood; seen in liver disease such as hepatitis or liver cancer or obstruction of the biliary tractby gallstones or cancer, also called "icterus"โรคดีซ่าน (See Wikipedia)
haemorrhage - bleeding, loss of blood (either inside the body or passing out of the body) การตกเลือด, อาการตกเลือด, อาการเลือดไหลไม่หยุด (See Wikipedia)
skin haemorrhages
vomit - when food passes from stomach out of mouth: การอาเจียน; informal: puke, throw up, barf: การอ้วก
diarrhoea - when you have water when you go to the bathroom; "having three or more loose or liquid bowel movements per day. It is a common cause of death in developing countries and the second most common cause of infant deaths worldwide.
The loss of fluids through diarrhea can cause dehydration and electrolyte imbalances. In 2009 diarrhea was estimated to have caused 1.1 million deaths in people aged 5 and over and 1.5 million deaths in children under the age of 5.
Oral rehydration salts and zinc tablets are the treatment of choice and have been estimated to have saved 50 million children in the past 25 years" ท้องเสีย (See Wikipedia)
rash - when skin changes colour, appearance, and texture, usually becoming red (See Wikipedia)
fatal - causing someone to die ถึงตาย
immediately - happening right after something else with no delay; right away ทันที
can be fatal if not treated immediately
urban - in a city or town ในเมือง capital - the city in a country that is the center for government เมืองหลวง
the floodwater has hit crowded urban communities in the capital
measure - an action taken to solve a particular problem มาตรการ
will help control rodents infected with the bacteria from spreading the disease to people
wearing rubber boots, gloves and masks when wading through contaminated floodwaterd
authorities - government officials; the police or people in official organisations who have the legal power to make people obey laws or rules เจ้าหน้าที่ (ตำรวจ หรือผู้มีอำนาจ)
health authorities
monitoring - regularly checking an ongoing activity or process (to check for problems or collect information) จับตาดู
nationwide - throughout a whole country ทั่วทั้งประเทศ
monitoring for leptospirosis in 46 flood-hit provinces nationwide
epidemiology - the study of health and disease patterns in a population and how diseases spread, provides the statistics and data used by public health authorities and "helps inform policy decisions and evidence-based medicine by identifying risk factors for disease and targets for preventive medicine.
Epidemiologists are involved in the design of studies, collection and statistical analysis of data, and interpretation and dissemination of results" (See Wikipedia)
surveillance - watching something carefully to gather information or check for problems การตรวจตรา
surveillance teams of the Bureau of Epidemiology
investigation - the process of trying to find out all the details or facts about something in order to discover who or what caused it or how it happened; try to find out what happened during an event, discover the truth
การตรวจสอบหาข้อเท็จจริง การสอบสวน under investigation - the investigation is happening now and is not finished yet
still under investigation
bureau - a government organisation, in this case, within the police department สำนักงาน
faculty - a group of departments in a college which specialize in a particular subject or group of subjects คณะ
tropical - relating to the hottest area of the Earth, between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn ในเขตร้อน
tropical medicine - the branch of medicine that deals with health problems that occur in tropical and subtropical regions, also diseases that remain widespread because of lack of improvements in housing, diet, sanitation, and personal hygiene (See Wikipedia) Mahidol University's faculty of tropical medicine.
endemic - found everywhere, very common problem therefore difficult to solve (epidemiology: "an infection is said to be endemic in a population when that infection is maintained in the population without the need for external inputs. For example, chickenpox is endemic (steady state) in the UK, but malaria is not.
Every year, there are a few cases of malaria acquired in the UK, but these do not lead to sustained transmission in the population due to the lack of a suitable vector (mosquitoes of the genus Anopheles)" (See Wikipedia)
proper - actual or real จริง (พระราชพิธีพระราชทานเพลิงพระศพจริง)
proper protection - real and true protection (example: wearing an amulet as protection against motorcycle accidents may not be proper protection)
The disease is endemic in the Northeast where farmers work in fields and rice paddies without proper protection.
peak - highest level; the time when something is at its highest or greatest level ช่วงเวลาที่พบมากที่สุด
monsoon - the season of heavy rain during the summer in hot Asian countries มรสุม heavy seasonal winds and rain (See Wikipedia) ฤดูมรสุม
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