8 Metro Manila hospitals reach full capacity for leptospirosis

MANILA, Philippines — Eight hospitals in Metro Manila have reached their full capacity for designated leptospirosis beds, the Department of Health (DOH) reported yesterday.

Latest DOH data showed that the East Avenue Medical Center’s 53 leptospirosis beds including surge beds have already been occupied.

There are also no vacant beds at the Quirino Memorial and Medical Center and Tondo Medical Center with 24 and 23 current admissions, respectively. The Amang Rodriguez Memorial Medical Center has also filled its 17-bed capacity.

Current leptospirosis admissions at four other DOH-retained hospitals are also saturated. These are the Jose R. Reyes Memorial Medical Center with 11 patients, Dr. Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital and the National Center for Mental Health with three each and the Philippine Heart Center with one.

But the DOH said that there are still 128 available beds for leptospirosis spread out in the remaining 12 out of the 20 DOH hospitals.

The San Lazaro Hospital has 34 available beds, the Philippine Children and Medical Center has 26 beds, Las Piñas General Hospital and Satellite Trauma Center has 18, Research Institute for Tropical Medicine has 11, National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI) has nine, National Children’s Hospital has seven, Dr. Jose N. Rodriguez Memorial Hospital and Sanitarium has six, Rizal Medical Center and the San Lorenzo Ruiz General Hospital have five each, Valenzuela Medical Center has four, Philippine Orthopedic Center has two and Lung Center of the Philippines has one.

The highest admissions of leptospirosis patients were reported at the San Lazaro Hospital with 86 current cases, NKTI with 17 and Rizal Medical Center with 15. These hospitals accounted for 235 or 81.6 percent of all current admissions.

The DOH stressed that continued inter-facility referral and coordination remain necessary particularly for hospitals already operating at or beyond their designated leptospirosis bed capacity.

Latest DOH data showed an increase in leptospirosis cases, with 8,317 infections recorded nationwide so far this year. The figure is 14 percent higher from last year’s 7,280 cases.