By Chito Chavez Leptospirosis deaths have breached the 100 mark, health authorities said yesterday. (PIXABAY / MANILA BULLETIN) After the Department of Health (DOH) came out last Wednesday with a nationwide death toll of 93, leptospirosis has claimed 12 lives at the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI), Quezon City until Friday. The NKTI on Thursday had opened a “fast lane’’ with the rise of patients being treated with leptospirosis as the DOH warned the public against wading, plunging and swimming in the city’s esteros, rivers, ponds, canals and flooded streets as they run the risk of acquiring the communicable diseases that may put their lives in danger. Earlier, the DOH said that from January to June 2018, there has been a 41-percent rise in leptospirosis cases with over 1,030 recorded in this year. Councilors Ranulfo Ludovica, Victor Ferrer Jr., and Eufemio Lagumbay raised the concern after reports reaching their offices said that individuals, mostly children, use the flooded areas as their swimming pools. They appealed to the parents to look after their children who may want enjoy the rainy days by wading or plunging into the city’s polluted waterways. Aside from contracting infectious and contagious diseases, those who swim in these waterways may drown during a flashflood, especially in the absence of lifeguards, said Ludovica. Dr. Rose Liquete, NKTI executive director, said there were already 84 leptospirosis cases admitted in the hospital through the DOH’s “fast lane” as of last Friday, which is a big jump from the 61 cases logged the day before. She noted that some of the patients are now undergoing dialysis, a sign that their kidneys are already severely affected by the disease. Liquete reminded the public not to dismiss leptospirosis citing it can cause death when not treated properly. Leptospirosis is contracted from the waste and urine of animals such as rats.