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MANGALURU: Doctors at KMC hospital have warned people to avoid contact with contaminated water and animals to avoid exposure to bacterium which could lead to serious complications and can be life threatening. The warning came after doctors treated several patients with near fatal conditions recently. 
 A team of doctors from KMC recently gave a new lease of life to five persons who were brought to the hospital with severe complications arising out of malaria, dengue and leptospirosis. The patients presented with severe conditions of kidney failure, blood abnormalities and respiratory complications.

 Shajith Alex, who was brought to KMC from Kannur (Kerala), is critical. He was diagnosed with leptospirosis (rat fever), a bacterial infection with severe symptoms of platelet dysfunction, kidney failure and breathlessness. Alex was in a coma and had to be immediately put on dialysis and ventilator. He was closely monitored and gradually after a few days, his parameters normalized.

 Another case was of Ashok Suvarna, 47, who came in fever that was persisting from the past one week. Doctors in Hubballi could not diagnose the cause. His condition started deteriorating when he developed severe kidney failure and was brought to the casualty department of KMC Hospital. Within five minutes of his admission, he developed cardio-respiratory arrest. Since he had kidney failure, he required prolonged dialysis.

 Dr Prabhu said the hospital has reported increase in admissions with dengue, leptospirosis and malaria, compared to previous year’s admissions. "Also, there has been an increase in the number of such cases in the district every year since 2014-15, 2015-16. For example, in 2014-15 there were 112 cases of malaria reported in rural DK, but subsequent years the number went up to 717,’’ he said adding NS1 positive dengue cases shot up to 1,065 in last two years, and from January to June 2016, as many as 65 cases were reported.

 Speaking on the occasion by Dr. Anand Venugopal, medical superintendent of KMC Hospitals, Mangaluru said: "Malaria and dengue are rampant in and around Mangaluru. I urge people to visit their clinics or hospital when they have symptoms of fever, rashes, and vomiting."

 Sagir Siddiqui, unit head, KMC Hospitals said: "The hospital has seen a spurt in such cases here and in Kasaragod districts. Several patients had to be in ICU and on ventilators when they developed multiple complications. The five patients were in acute emergency and had developed complications, renal failure requiring dialysis and septicaemia."