Past wisdom is new fix? Salt may help tackle leptospirosis

CHENNAI: In 2009, when Kidathirukkai, a hamlet in Ramanathapuram, had an outbreak of leptospirosis, village elders lined their fields and floors with common salt. They were doing what they’d seen their ancestors do to contain the infection, but this time it caught the attention of health officials.

“We learned that people in villages often use salt as a disinfectant,” said S

Elango

, then director of public health and now the president of the Tamil Nadu chapter of India Public Health Association. “We wanted to conduct preliminary investigations to check the effectiveness.” Leptospira bacteria spreads mainly through rat urine but mammals such as dogs, pigs and some types of cattle, also pass it on.

The directorate in 2009 sought 27 strains of the microorganism that causes leptospirosis from Regional Medical Research Centre,

Port Blair

. Researchers added 100ml of water with 100mg of salt and injected them in each sample. The effect showed an hour later. “The bacteria stopped moving. The cell walls had crumbled. It wasn’t a myth, it was science,” said Elango.

Eight years later, he and his team from

IPHA

, say they have further evidence to substantiate the potency of salt. The association last month wrote to the Indian Council of Medical Research with the findings, urging it to facilitate in-depth studies in states like TN, where leptospirosis is endemic. Elango said studies of the potency of salt as a disinfectant will show if it can be used in the health system like bleaching powder.

Ravikumar G, head of Zoonoses Research Laboratory, Tamil Nadu Veterinary and

Animal Sciences University

, said salt has been known to have disinfecting property, but there is little in medical literature to prove that. He is wary about using it to contain leptospirosis.

Former health officer P

Kuganantham

said Tamil Nadu last last had a leptospirosis outbreak in 1996. There are around 1,300 cases annually. Experts say there could be under-reporting due to low awareness and absence of diagnostic facilities. After the December 2015 floods, at least eight people died of a severe form of leptospirosis, but there are no official records of the deaths.