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

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.