While exactly 100 people from Surat district have been affected so far, another 56 of Navsari district and 36 from Valsad district were diagnosed of having contracted Leptospirosis. Twenty people have succumbed to the disease so far, of whom 10 are from Surat district, six from Navsari district and four from Valsad district.

Providing details, Regional Deputy Director (RDD) Health, Dr Khasgiwala said on Monday evening that all the five people admitted to the New Civil Hospital in Surat were from affected talukas of the district, while all the five admitted to the Valsad Civil Hospital were from villages of Navsari taluka.

Incidentally, the New Civil Hospital, after a brief lull, here has been receiving a steady flow of Leptospirosis patients in the past three days.

Meanwhile, Superintendent of the New Civil Hospital here, Dr Khatija Saifee dismissed allegations that few patients admitted to the hospital had fled the wards as there were inadequate facilities there.

Talking to Express Newsline Saifee said that the procedure followed in such cases was the `Rising Titre' method, wherein blood samples of patients were taken at the time of admission and exactly a fortnight after. ``If patients get well before a fortnight, they insist to go back home and do not wait for the rising titre test,'' she explained. Saifee also stated that the tests were essential to confirm Leptospirosis.