By EFE
27 Feb 2024, 09:27 AM EST
San Juan – About 35 people died in Puerto Rico in 2023 associated with leptospirosis, a bacterial disease that can seriously affect the kidneys and liver and cause meningitis, difficulty breathing and bleeding, the local Department of Health (DS) reports this Tuesday.
The death notifications received have been five confirmed cases, 16 probable cases and 14 suspects, details a special bulletin from Leptospirosis Surveillance, Division of Epidemiology and Research of the DS.
Of the 14 suspected cases, three are under investigation, 10 suspected cases were attributed to other causes of death, and one case remained classified as suspicious after the investigation was completed.
The month of January was the deadliest with 6 deaths, and March and September followed with 5 each.
In total, during 2023, 1,573 cases were reported in 76 of the 78 municipalities of the island in all regions of the DS.
The region with the most total cases reported was Ponce with 424, and the municipality with the highest number of total cases reported was San Juan with 193.
The municipality with the highest number of confirmed and probable cases was Adjuntas with 33.
Meanwhile, according to the most recent Monthly Leptospirosis Surveillance Report -February 16, 2024- for the period from January 1, 2023 to February 3 of this year, the DS has preliminarily received 2,463 reports of leptospirosis on the island.
In that period, 311 cases were received that met the case definition, the health agency specifies in the report.
These are distributed in 263 probable cases and 48 confirmed cases.
Meanwhile, for the period from December 31, 2023 to February 3, 2024, 22 reports have been preliminarily received that met the case definition.
These are distributed in 18 probable cases and 4 confirmed cases.
The incidence of the period was preliminarily estimated at 0.65 per 100,000 inhabitants.
The lowest level of incidence was observed during the month of April 2023, with a rate of 0.47 per 100,000 inhabitants, while the highest level was observed during the month of October 2023 with a rate of 1.06 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. 100,000 inhabitants.
Among the first symptoms of the disease are: fever, headache, muscle pain, red eyes, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, jaundice (yellowish skin and eyes), rash and cough.