Leptospirosis in the Philippines

Saturday, October 17th, 2009

A recent outbreak in Manila belies the fact that reported rates of leptospirosis in the Philippines had actually decreased in recent years. See graph:

Leptospira-Philippines

The following additional background data are abstracted from GIDEON www.GideonOnline.com (primary references available on request):

Leptospirosis was first reported n the Philippines in 1932.
– 65 cases were documented in literature published during 1932 to 1970; 390 during 1971 to 1973; approxomately 840 during 1998 to 2001.
– Leptospirosis is common in flood-prone areas of urban setting such as Metro Manila.
– The average age of patients is 32 years, 87% of cases were males and 70% are outdoor workers.
– The case fatality rate is 12 to 14 percent.
– Rates in Cabatuan, Iloilo are estimated at 147 cases per 100,000 population (2007 publication).

Prevalence surveys:
5% of aseptic meningitis cases in Manila (1989 publication)

Seroprevalence surveys:
43.6% of rice farmers in Central Luzon (1988 publication)
0% of dogs (RMAT, 1970 to 1973)

The following serovars of Leptospira interrogans have been demonstrated among patients in the Manila area: poi, tarassovi, manilai, pyrogenes, australis, grippotyphosa, javanica and automnalis.

Notable outbreaks:
1976 to 1983 – An outbreak of leptospirosis was reported on a penal farm in Sablayan, Mindoro.
1999 – An outbreak (17 cases) of leptospirosis involved participants in an ‘iron-man contest’ – from Germany, Hong Kong and the Philippines.

Update: Posted in ProMED

Measles in the Philippines

Thursday, January 15th, 2009

A recent outbreak in Western Visayas belies the fact that measles rates in the Philippines have declined dramatically since the 1990′s, in parallel with increased vaccination usage.

measles-phil

From 1983 to 1997, the Philippines had reported one of the highest measles rates in this region.

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Filariasis in the Philippines

Tuesday, October 7th, 2008

645,232 cases of filariasis (both forms) were estimated for the Philippines during 1963 to 1996

Wuchereria bancrofti:

Time and Place:
- Bancroftian filariasis is endemic to southern Luzon, Mindanao, Mindoro, Palawan, Samar, Leyte, Sorsogon and Bohol.
- 43 of 63 provinces were endemic n 1960; 45 of 77 provinces as of 1996 4 ; 290 municipalities as of 2001; 351 of 1,566 municipalities as of 2003; 39 of 79 provinces as of 2004.
- Cases have recently been registered in Marinduque.
- Both forms of filariasis (W. bancrofti and B. malayi) coexist in only four provinces: Davao Oriental, Palawan, Eastern and Northern Samar 6 and Surigao del Sur.
- In 1984, 20 million persons were considered at risk for filariasis (both W. bancrofti and B. malayi) in the Philippines; 23.5 million in 2002; 15,034,765 in 2006; 21,882,581 in 2007.
- Only two provinces (Marinduque and Sulu) were considered ‘high prevalence’ areas (>10%) as of 1993.

Disease in the Philippines is nocturnally periodic.

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