FILE- The National Kidney Transplant Institute in Quezon City uses its covered basketball court to accommodate a sharp increase in the number of leptospirosis patients. The bacterial disease is usually contracted by people with open wounds and who have waded through contaminated floodwaters. —NIÑO JESUS ORBETA/RICHARD A. REYES
According to the Department of Health, a total of 5,232 leptospirosis cases were reported nationwide in 2018.
The figure was 71 percent higher than the 3,067 cases recorded in 2017.
There were 505 deaths recorded due to leptospirosis nationwide last year, 194 of these in Metro Manila. —Marielle Medina, Inquirer Research
