MANILA: Leptospirosis cases being treated at the San Lazaro Hospital (SLH) have increased to 149 in the past one and a half weeks. In a Bagong Pilipinas interview Wednesday, Dr. Rontgene Solante, head of Adult Infectious Diseases and Tropical Diseases at SLH, said the tally is a 'significant increase' since the hospital gets only two to three patients per month on average. 'Out of the 149 cases, walo na 'yung namamatay natin (eight have already died) from the age of 28 years old to as high as 45 years old,' he said. 'Hindi pa sila gaano matatanda (They are not that old), but because of the severity of infection, they die of complications, for kidney failure or renal failure and most of these patients have pulmonary hemorrhage or bleeding of lungs and these patients are the ones with high risk of dying,' he said. READ: Leptospirosis cases up by 17%: DOH The ages of the patients range from 19 years old to 69 years old and most of them swam or waded in floodwaters without taking prophylaxis for leptospirosi s. Solante said more than 60 percent suffer from moderate and severe symptoms. Leptospirosis symptoms include headache, body pains, pain in the calf, red eyes, high fever, diarrhea, loss of appetite, jaundice, vomiting, and nausea. It takes five days to two weeks from the exposure to floodwater for the leptospirosis bacteria to incubate and for the symptoms to show. Solante said leptospirosis can be cured with antibiotic and supportive treatment such as intravenous fluids and oxygen administration. Severe cases can still recover from leptospirosis after seven to 10 days of confinement in the hospital, he said. He said the SLH opened new wards for leptospirosis cases so they can receive focused treatment and accommodate patients referred to them. Source: Philippines News Agency