Malaria, lepto strike; 13 die in 24 hours

Municipal hospitals have reported 40 deaths in the last 15 days from monsoon-related ailments.

MUMBAI: The events of last week have overshadowed another problem that Mumbaikars are grappling with: disease. The last 24 hours alone have registered 13 deaths, with 40 over the last fortnight.

A BMC report says that between July 5 and July 20 there have been 40 deaths from diseases like gastroenteritis, leptospirosis, dengue, malaria, and viral fever.

Malaria has been the biggest killer, say officials. The disease has also hit home: an additional municipal commissioner and a dean of a medical college both contracted the illness. Both have since recovered.

Health officials say the recent heavy rainfall with areas like Parel, Andheri, Borivli, Saki Naka, Jogeshwari, Kurla, and Byculla getting water-logged have helped these diseases to thrive. Sources in BMC hospitals confirmed that over 1,300 patients have been admitted for high fever in the last fortnight. On Thursday alone, 401 were admitted to the KEM, Nair, Sion, Cooper, and Bhagwati hospitals.

Private hospitals have also registered a huge number of gastro, malaria and fever cases, a BMC official said.

DNA has the BMC report that cites the statistics of the last 24 hours. But Executive Health Officer Jairaj Thanekar said only eight people had died between Wednesday and Thursday.

He did admit, however, that there have been 40 deaths in the last 15 days, most of them because of malaria and viral fever. More than dengue, leptospirosis is cause for concern, he said. “We have already despatched doctors to slums and are taking samples,” he said.

Doctors in BMC hospitals are themselves down with fever, it is learnt.