These days, it only takes a bit of rain to start a flood, a major inconvenience that ruins homes and properties, disrupts schools and businesses, and creates hours of standstill traffic jams.

Alarmingly, it triggers the rise of leptospirosis. A disease caused by the bacterium Leptospira, it’s spread from floodwater containing the urine of infected dogs, rats and farm animals into an open wound, nose, mouth, eyes, or genitals of an unsuspecting person. If diagnosed and addressed early with antibiotics, leptospirosis resolves itself in about a week. Left untreated, the disease can progress to a host of complications, particularly on the kidneys.

Despite government agencies’ repeated warnings to avoid swimming and wading in dirty floodwater, cases of leptospirosis spiked last year. According to the Department of Health, over 2,700 patients from the National Capital Region alone were diagnosed with the disease from January to October 2024, surpassing the epidemic threshold.

Don’t expose yourself to floodwater. If you must, wear protective gear like rubber boots. Then wash your feet, legs, hands and face with soap and clean water. Apply an antiseptic on any cuts or wounds that you may have. Clothes and shoes that have been soaked in floodwater need to be detergent-washed and sun-dried to kill the bacteria.

It takes two to 14 days for signs of leptospirosis to appear so monitor for symptoms. Some of the classic symptoms are fever, headaches, vomiting, muscle pain in the calves and back, abdominal pain, red eyes, yellowish skin, and reduced or dark-colored urine. See your doctor immediately as soon as these signs appear so treatment can begin. A blood and urine test can determine the presence of Leptospira in your system.