A dangerous cocktail of diseases -- dengue, malaria, conjunctivitis, eye-nose-throat and gastrointestinal infections and other bacterial and fungal infestations – are currently ensuring that hospitals remain flooded with patients this season.
Dr. Rajesh Kumar, consultant, Internal Medicine, Paras Hospitals, Gurgaon said: “It is just a few days into monsoon and we are already receiving an increasing number of patients (40-50 patients a day) reporting gastrointestinal, respiratory, acute febrile illness as well as eye infections.”
He added that poor sanitation, contamination of food and water becomes more prominent during the season.
While common cold and viral fevers are quite common, people are also exposed to several intestinal infections leading to gastroenteritis, typhoid and hepatitis due to intake of unhygienic and infected food and water. Dengue and malaria are the other two ailments which are causing several persons to head towards the hospitals.
Delhi has recorded 40 dengue cases between February and July which is a large number for this time of the year. Dengue follows a cyclical trend in which there is a surge in number of cases every three to five years. Delhi had seen dengue outbreaks in 2006 and 2010.
According to a recent report, over 58 lakh Indians are diagnosed with Dengue each year, a figure 282 times greater than the officially recorded number of 20,000 annual cases.
According to Dr. Amar Singhal, head of Cardiology, Action Heart Institute, Sri Balaji Action Medical Institute: ``The drop in the platelet count of a patient suffering from dengue fever can affect the functioning of several vital organs in his or her body especially the heart.’’
``One must always remember that if the blood platelet counts of a person suffering from dengue dips below 45,000 along with bleeding, the cardiac functioning of the person may be compromised. If the heart health of such a patient is not given due attention immediately, it may prove to be fatal for him,’’ he added.
Dr. Bharat Bhushan Chanana, Head of Department, Interventional Cardiology, Maharaja Agrasen Hospital, noted that India faces the challenge of an alarming rise of dengue cases especially towards the end of the monsoon season.
