Malaria, dengue, lepto continue to reign in city

At least 5,207 cases of fever have been reported in the city since July 2. Fever has claimed 29 lives in the city since the beginning of the monsoon.

Cases of other monsoon-related diseases continued to rise with two deaths being reported, one due to fever and another due to leptospirosis.

Civic hospitals reported 44 cases of gastroenteritis and 32 cases of malaria, while private hospitals reported two cases of leptospirosis and one death, 12 cases of dengue and 34 cases of malaria, said Dr Kewalramani.

Doctors across the city attribute this alarming rise in cases of fever in the city to climate change. Patients are worsening the situation by trying self-medication, resulting in high rate of hospitalisation, said doctors.

Another reason for the high number of admissions is that patients go to the hospital only when they are in a very critical condition, added physician Dr Satish Dode.

“In the last 24 hours, 224 new cases of fever and one death due to fever have been reported,” said Dr Neera Kewalramani, deputy executive health officer of the BMC.

According to civic executive health officer Dr Jayraj Thanekar, BMC hospitals have been taking all cases of fever seriously.

“All patients with fever are tested. If a patient needs medical care, he is admitted to the civic hospital
immediately. Though the number of admissions is high, so is the number of people being discharged,” he said.