Malaria, dengue cases on the rise with monsoon’s steady advance into the city
In June, the count of these ailments was low owing to scanty rainfall.
With monsoons advancing steadily into the city, cases of fever, malaria and gastroenteritis have observed a noticeable rise. From 1,278 cases of fever recorded by the civic health department in the first week of July, the cases jumped to 1,468 in the third week of July.
For the same period, malaria cases were recorded at 168, a rise from 123, while gastroenteritis cases jumped from 354 cases to 414 cases last week.
In June, the count of these ailments was low owing to scanty rainfall.
Civic officials have said that the numbers are expected to further rise by July-end with heavy showers.
In June, there were 4,642 fever cases, 566 malaria, 27 dengue and 910 gastroenteritis cases recorded in the civic hospitals and dispensaries.
Dr Nandu Vijay, general physician attached with Bhatia hospital, said, “We are also seeing a slight rise in dengue cases. But malaria and gastroenteritis cases are coming in large numbers. Once treatment for malaria begins, it takes 24-36 hours for the fever to subside. In case of gastroenteritis, if the diarrhoea is bad, the ailment can last for three days.”
The symptoms of gastroenteritis— 2,051 cases reported since June— include diarrhoea, fever, vomiting and loose motions.
In case of malaria, a patient may report body ache and head ache apart from constant fever. Since June, 1,016 cases of malaria have been reported by the civic health department.
Apart from these ailments, there were 60 dengue cases, 150 typhoid cases, 206 hepatitis cases and six leptospirosis cases recorded by the health department since the onset of monsoons in June.
According to the health department, a special provision has been made for such ailments in all peripheral and tertiary-care hospitals by allocating a total of 3,200 beds for patients suffering from dengue, malaria, cholera, typhoid, H1N1, gastroenteritis, leptospirosis and fever.
A daily monitoring of all these beds will be done by health officials to keep a tab on the number of beds occupied and the count of several diseases.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has also started holding weekly Monsoon camps since June 22 for regular health check ups of locals.
On July 20, camps were held in P South (Goregaon), K West (Andheri est) and F South (Parel) wards.
mumbai.newsline@expressindia.com
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