LEPTOSPIROSIS (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 – Sci & Tech/Diseases)

News-CRUX-10     18th September 2023        
QEP Pocket Notes

Context: Leptospirosis has resulted in six fatalities in Odisha, causing great concern in the state, and there has also been a surge in scrub typhus cases.

Leptospirosis

  • About: It is a bacterial disease that affects humans and animals.
  • Symptoms: High fever, headache, chills, vomiting, red eyes, abdominal pain, rashes, and diarrhea.
  • Leptospirosis may occur in two phases:
  • After the first phase (symptoms: fever, chills, headache, muscle aches, vomiting, or diarrhea), the patient may recover for a time but become ill again.
  • If a second phase occurs, it is more severe; the person may have kidney or liver failure or meningitis.
  • Affected: Kidney damage, meningitis (inflammation of the membrane around the brain and spinal cord), liver failure, respiratory distress, and even death.
  • Treatment: The illness lasts from a few days to 3 weeks or longer. Without treatment, recovery may take several months.

Scrub Typhus

  • About: It is a potentially life-threatening infection caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi bacteria.
  • Transmission: People contract scrub typhus through the bites of infected chiggers, which are larval mites.
  • Symptoms: Fever, headache, body aches, and sometimes a rash.
QEP Pocket Notes