Isa sa pabalik-balik ngunit hindi gaanong napag-uusapang banta sa kalusugan sa Pilipinas ang leptospirosis: isa itong sakit na dulot ng bakteryum na matatagpuan sa kontaminadong tubig at lupa, at tumitindi ang paglaganap nito taon-taon sa pagdating ng tag-ulan at mga baha. Ipinakikita ng dalawang bagong pag-aaral mula sa University of the Philippines – Diliman College of Science (UPD-CS) at Philippine Genome Center (PGC) na maaaring mas malala ang sitwasyon kaysa sa inaakala ng ating mga health worker. Hindi dahil sa ito ay isang bagong uri ng bakteryum, kundi dahil kung saan ito natagpuang nabubuhay at namamayagpag pa.

Leptospirosis is one of the Philippines' most persistent and least talked-about health threats: a bacterial disease carried in contaminated water and soil, spiking every year the moment the rains and the floodwaters come. Two new peer-reviewed studies out of the University of the Philippines – Diliman College of Science (UPD-CS) and the Philippine Genome Center (PGC) now show that the picture may be worse than health workers assumed. This is not because the bacterium is new, but because of where scientists just found it living, and how completely it has settled in.

The UP Science and Society Program of the UP Diliman College of Science invites everyone to the "Pax Silica: Progress for Who?" Public Forum on Monday, 19 October 2026, from 9:00 AM to 12:00 NN at the Institute of Biology Auditorium.