Prevalence of the dangerous bacterial disease, leptospirosis, has remained high, and environmental health officers have started a campaign to sensitise the public on the need to continue taking precautions against the disease.

The director for environmental health, Mr Danny Poiret, said that the heavy rains which had been falling recently could increase the chances of people contracting the disease if they did not take the necessary precautions.

The environmental health unit, within the Ministry of Health, has started distributing flyers through schools and health centres, warning residents of the danger the disease posed to those who failed to heed public health advice.

Environmental health officer Daisy Rose noted that statistics which had just been released showed that seven people, five males and two females, perished after the disease struck them last year.

She explained that a total of 52 persons suffered from the disease in the Year 2002, and the mortality placed it only second to AIDS as a killer.

Mr Poiret said his unit would be calling on all residents to improve and maintain a high standard of sanitation and hygiene both indoors and outdoors, wherever they lived.

He urged those who would be compelled by the nature of their work to come into contact with water or soil to wear protective clothing.

Mrs Rose, who is in charge of the rodent control section of the environmental health unit, also urged people to make use of rodenticides and take other measures to control rodent infestation.

The health officers however dismissed as unfounded claims that those who took traditional brew were in greater danger of contracting the disease.

"Every individual is as prone to infection with leptospirosis as any other," they said, pointing out that those who were affected last year came from both sexes and all age groups, from children to the elderly.

They advised those who may come down with high fever, severe headache, chills, muscle pain, vomiting, yellowing of the skin or eyes, abdominal pain, diarrhoea or rush to report immediately to the nearest health centre for prompt diagnosis and treatment.

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