The death toll due to leptospirosis reached 55 in South Gujarat this monsoon, with four more deaths being reported at the New Civil Hospital in Surat on Friday. Thirteen more people suffering from the disease have been admitted to the hospital.

The deceased have been identified as Ramesh Choudhary (55), a resident of Kumbiya village in Vyara taluka; Suman Harpati (25), a resident of Rajwada village in Navsari taluka; Amrut Harpati (35), a resident of Magod village in Valsad and Hansha Tandel (45), a resident of Valsad.

Keeping in view the high mortality rate, two new primary treatment centres have now been opened at Bardoli and Navsari.

Dr. Naresh Godara, Assistant Professor at the Preventive and Social Medicine at New Civil Hospital said: “This year we have started primary treatment centres at the Bardoli Community Health Care Centre and at the Navsari Civil Hospital for leptospirosis patients. We have deployed expert doctors at these centres to provide proper treatment to the patients. Patients who are in the primary stage of leptospirosis will be treated at these new centres in Navsari and Bardoli, but the critical patients will be referred to the New Civil hospital.”

He said a large number of farm labourers are affected by the deadly disease during the monsoon, particularly in the months of July, August and September.

“We have informed the PHCs, CHCs and the Civil Hospitals across south Gujarat to contact us if they find some difficulty in detecting the disease among the farm labourers. The necessary medicines have also been distributed to the villages,” he said.