'Flood fever' can be deadly

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Laying helplessly in a third-class ward for more than a week at Tarakan hospital in West Jakarta, Usman, 42, has been struggling with a serious illness, one he still knows nothing about.

"The doctor took me off the intravenous (IV) drip. I hope I can go home soon," said the employee of an auto repair shop in Sunter, North Jakarta.

Usman is one of several patients recently hospitalized in Jakarta for leptospirosis, a little known contagious disease caused by Leptospira interrogans, a bacterium transmitted through the urine of rats and domestic animals.

Infected people display various symptoms, including a prolonged fever, nausea and vomiting, fatigue, eye inflammation and in more severe cases liver damage and jaundice.

"I don't understand this disease. All I know is that I threw up blood over and over again, had severe diarrhea with blood. My sight faded and my ears hurt and I heard a prolonged, very loud ringing sound. Not to mention the pain I felt from head to toe," said Usman.

At first Usman, who lives along a densely populated lane in a squalid neighborhood in Gelora, Central Jakarta, thought that the cause of his illness was a lack of nutrients and too much work. He went to two local clinics, both of which gave him drugs to treat the vomiting and diarrhea. Another doctor later asked him to have his blood checked at a hospital. He did so and was immediately hospitalized.

Leptospirosis, also called "flood fever", is often misdiagnosed due to the similarity of its symptoms, in early stages, with the common flu.

The number of reported cases over the last year in the capital stands at 44, four of which have been fatal.

"We have been conducting public awareness campaigns on how to prevent endemic diseases, such as dengue fever and leptospirosis, since the second week of December by handing out calendars and brochures across the city," Evi Zelfino, spokesperson of the Jakarta health agency, told The Jakarta Post.

Public events have been held every Friday in various public places, such as Thamrin, the National Monument, Senen and Harmoni, all in Central Jakarta.

In coordination with hospitals, the agency is putting up posters to increase awareness in hospital emergency rooms.

"However, the language used in the poster is highly technical in nature ... people often have to ask hospital staff to explain it," said Cici, a hospital employee.