While dengue and malaria cases have been on the decline since 2012, doctors say that there has been an increase in the past fortnight
Despite sporadic rainfall in the city recently, monsoon-related ailments seem to have reared their ugly head over the past fortnight. Several patients have been diagnosed with gastroenteritis and there has been a marginal increase in vector-borne deceases such as dengue and malaria, say doctors.
A girl ties rakhi around her brother’s wrist with a picture of a mosquito to create awareness about vector-borne disease in Kolkata on Sunday. Pic/AFP
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Speaking to mid-day, Dr Pratit Samdani, consultant physician at Pedder Road’s Jaslok Hospital, said, “In the last week itself, nearly twenty patients were diagnosed with dengue and malaria, some of whom had to be hospitalised.
We’ve been treating at least three patients suffering from gastroenteritis each day. There has also been a slight increase in typhoid, as we’ve already treated eight patients in the last week.”
Dr Vikrant Shah, senior physician at Chembur’s Joy Hospital, said that despite the increase in the number of patients being admitted with dengue and malaria in the last two weeks, there has been a drastic drop in the number of dengue cases as compared to 2012.
“Two years ago, the volume of dengue cases was very high with around 80 patients diagnosed with the disease. The number has come down drastically this year but we’ve admitted 10 patients with malaria in the last two weeks itself.
There has also been an increase in gastroenteritis cases, with another 10 patients being admitted with symptoms like diarrhoea,” said Dr Shah. Dr Om Srivastav, head of the infectious diseases department at the hospital, informed that leptospirosis also continues to be a concern, with four patients being admitted with it.
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