Hey all,

I know there are a couple of members here that live in Hawaii, and a couple of members with medical background, I'm hoping they can give me some feedback. As you can probably guess by the title, I have a question regarding the water safety while hiking. I am thinking of hiking the Kalalau trail in a couple weeks, most likely going to do it as a long day hike, but might think about camping. I was reading the websites and they were warning about Leptospriosis, which could be transmitted through contact with the water. The questions I have is:

1) Will a standard backpacking water filter protect me enough, or should I also use chemical disinfectants?

2) How serious, and how common, is this infection? The websites say it can be trasmitted through the mucous membranes or cuts, but how likely is that possibility?

3) Anything I can do to protect myself before hand? Antibiotics, medications, etc?


Thanks.