The Brihanamumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) monsoon-related diseases report for the first two weeks of August, released on Thursday, said only 15 cases of leptospirosis were reported in the city, as against 46 cases and three deaths recorded in August last year.
Officials from the BMC said the decline in number of cases can be attributed to the three rounds of surveys conducted in slums and slum-like areas. “After conducting the surveys, we distributed doxycycline tablets to adults and azithromycin tablets to pregnant women and children in order to nullify the possibility of them getting leptospirosis,” an official said.
As part of the initiative, 23 lakh houses were surveyed and 1,92,152 adults were admnistered doxycycline; while 3,782 children and 181 pregnant women were given azithromycin.
The health department also released an advisory asking citizens to avoid indiscriminate disposal of garbage as it can attract rodents, who are the main carriers of leptospirosis. The department advised citizens to vaccinate pet dogs against the disease and avoid self-medication in the wake of symptoms like fever with chills, vomiting, diarrhoea, cold, sore throat, jaundice and myalgia.
Apart from leptospirosis, there has also been a remarkable decline in the cases of dengue, malaria, gastroenteritis and hepatitis in the first 11 days of August, when compared to 2018.
The report said 465 cases of dengue-like illness were reported in the first two weeks of the month this year as compared to 2,317 cases in August last year.
‘Will release guidelines’
An official from the health department said to curtail the incidence of monsoon related diseases, the BMC will continue to promptly analyse reports and release guidelines accordingly. The information, education and communication department of the BMC will spread community awareness through posters, pamphlets, newspaper advertisements, social media posts and the like to inform the citizens about the preventive measures that can be taken to avoid monsoon related diseases, the official said.
According to the general guidelines issued by the health department, the number of dengue cases is likely to rise in mid-August to September and as a precautionary measure, citizens should prevent the breeding of mosquitoes in their surroundings.
