LEPTOSPIROSIS – GREECE (02): (THESSALY AND CENTRAL GREECE)
A ProMED-mail post
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International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.isid.org
Date: Thu 19 October 2023
Source: Taxydromos [in Greek, machine trans., edited]
https://www.taxydromos.gr/magnesia/volos/1005803/tessera-kroysmata-leptospeirosis-sti-magnisia/
Swamp disease, or Stuttgart disease, is leptospirosis. This is a
forgotten disease, which came to make its appearance on the occasion
of the catastrophic floods in Volos and Pelion and which is
transmitted by water.
Just yesterday, 2 more people who contracted the disease in Magnesia
were discharged. They are a 31-year-old man and a 40-year-old woman,
according to information. A total of 4 cases have been registered at
the Volos Hospital in 3 weeks.
In Volos and throughout the prefecture, citizens in dozens of areas
live in the mud.
The disease is caused by various types of the bacterium Leptospira,
is transmitted through contaminated water, and affects humans and
animals. The most common hosts are rodents, but also other mammal
species, wild or domestic (pigs, cattle, goats, sheep, and dogs),
which may excrete the pathogenic Leptospira in their urine. “Gates
of entry” of Leptospira into the body are the mucous membranes (of
the eyes, mouth, nose), the skin (via saliva), and the digestive
system (by consuming contaminated food or water). The incubation
period ranges from 5 days to 4 weeks.
In humans, leptospirosis can cause a wide range of symptoms, from high
fever, headache, and chills to myalgias and diarrhoea.
The initial symptoms are similar to those of the flu, so sometimes
there is no correct diagnosis in the 1st place; the patient seems to
be recovering, but then the symptoms may appear again and more
strongly.