Mumbai: Swine flu and several viral-borne ailments are on the rise in the city, thanks to temperature fluctuations brought on by intermittent rainfall. Doctors said they are getting a steady stream of patients, most complaining of fever, cough, sore throat and body ache, and cases of diarrhoea and coughs lasting more than three weeks are common.
Dr. Pratit Samdani, who practices at several south Mumbai hospitals, said, ““We are getting many patients with viral fever, of which a good number are influenzas including H1N1 and dengue. These patients have high fever, cough and upper respiratory tract infections. We are seeing at least eight patients every day. Around 15% of patients with high fever and dehydration need hospitalisation.”
According to Dr. Hemant Gupta at Bombay Hospital, the medical fraternity seems more equipped to tackle the situation. “These aren’t cases we haven’t seen before, including last year, so we feel better prepared. There is definitely a lot of H1N1.” Dr. Tushar Shah at Criticare Hospital, Juhu said dengue cases may go up in coming weeks.
Over the past week, BMC has reported more than 1,000 cases of fever, and numbers are bound to increase if temperatures fall. Dr. Padmaja Keskar, executive health officer, BMC, said seasonal flus are an annual problem but swine flu cases are on the rise. “The best way to beat them is to see a doctor as soon as symptoms are noticed. People should completely avoid self-medication.”
Swine flu claims 3 more
Three people have succumbed to the H1N1 virus, taking the swine flu death toll to 16 this year. Of these, 10 patients were city residents and the others had come to the city for treatment.
Civic officials said a 24-year-old pregnant woman from Dharavi died on June 13 of Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS). On June 8, she developed symptoms including fever, sore throat and breathlessness, but was taken to hospital after three days when her condition worsened. Following her death, BMC officers visited over 500 households near the victim’s residence to screen residents for symptoms, during which four residents were asked to go in for immediate treatment.
In the second case, a 45-year-old tuberculosis patient from Mankhurd died of swine flu last week. He, too, had been admitted to hospital three days after showing symptoms. In Malwani, a 35-year-old woman developed symptoms while visiting relatives place in Navi Mumbai. She was shifted to a civic hospital on June 15, but died of an H1N1 infection on June 18.
The city has recorded 285 H1N1 cases till date this year, while cases in the State touched . Overall in the state, the numbers have touched 1500 cases and more than 250 deaths.
Zika surveillance
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has directed 23 laboratories nationwide to test samples for the zika virus regularly. Dr. Jayanthi Shastri, who heads the BMC’s PCR Laboratory at Kasturba Hospital, said each centre can test up to 20 samples a week. “Some samples should be of pregnant women who had fever,” she added.
Dr. Amita Jain, microbiology department, King George Medical University in Lucknow, said since the same mosquito spreads the zika and dengue viruses, the directive to test samples is precautionary as there already are plenty of dengue cases.
