Spread of water-borne diseases plummet in Mumbai

Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Thursday released its status report on monsoon-related diseases, which stated that cases of water-borne diseases had declined in the Maharashtra. Health officials said that three deaths had taken place in the October due to dengue, while one each had been caused by hepatitis and malaria.

According to the report, released by the civic health department, in October, 212 confirmed cases of dengue and a total of 3293 suspected cases of dengue or patients with dengue-like illness were admitted to various civic-run hospitals compared to 4098 suspect cases in October 2016.

“The major hurdle and preventive measures in dengue control are awareness amongst people. There are times when we have found that plush societies have lesser awareness than the slum pockets,” said a health official. From October 1 to 31, five cases of H1N1 were reported as against 33 cases registered last month. “Only gastroenteritis is the disease which recorded a rise in numbers. In September, it was recorded at 532 while in October it was 546,” said the official.

Dr Padmaja Keskar, executive health officer, said patients must avoid self-diagnosis and strictly follow treatments prescribed by medical professionals. The infectious disease consultant said that all infections end up hurting immunity and the immune system ultimately decides how to respond to treatment, co-morbidity, and complications. “The doctors said that since there is no specific medication for dengue, people, apart from mosquito prevention, are supposed to consume plenty of liquid and take enough rest in case of a positive diagnosis,” added Dr Om Shrivastav.