According to figures provided by the BMC's health department, 1,023 cases of gastroenteritis were reported in June alone in civic hospitals. In the past three days, the BMC hospitals have received more than 66 gastroenteritis cases.
The city may be facing a dry spell right now, but if doctors are to be believed, Mumbai is already under a spell of gastro diseases, especially typhoid. Doctors said many patients are in hospitals but they are not responding to medication.
According to figures provided by the BMC's health department, 1,023 cases of gastroenteritis were reported in June alone in civic hospitals. In the past three days, the BMC hospitals have received more than 66 gastroenteritis cases.
"We are seeing a lot of gastroenteritis cases where patients are having 30-35 episodes of loose motion. In elderly patients, we have seen acute renal failure due to dehydration," said Dr Pratit Samdhani, consultant physician at Jaslok Hospital.
He said most of these patients belong to the 20-40 age group. "This is the working-class group and all of them have a history of eating out," she told dna. Dr Khusrav Bhajan, intensivist at PD Hinduja Hospital, said: "We are seeing a lot of gastroenteritis cases. Out of 10 people who come to me for stomach ailments, 5-6 are gastro cases and the rest are of typhoid and hepatitis. In the gastro cases, most patients are having 20-30 episodes of loose motion and it is taking a while for the kidney functioning to get back to normalcy."
Bhajan added that most of the typhoid patients require hospitalisation and need to be administered intravenous antibiotics. According to BMC health department reports, 16 hepatitis (A and E) and 20 typhoid cases have been reported in civic hospitals in the past four days.
Eating street food and drinking beverages like sherbets are the main reasons for the rising gastroenteritis cases this summer, doctors said. "While checking the history of patients, we found that most of them drank cold drinks like sherbets and fruit juices and ate golas. They also had street food prepared in dirty water. I advise my patients to drink boiled water or mineral water," said Dr Subodh Kedia, a family physician from Bandra.
Dos and don'ts
* Self/kitchen hygiene helps reduce stomach infection cases.
* Avoid eating salads, fruit plates (on streets or in 5-star hotels). They are notorious for stomach infection.
* Avoid drinking water outside. Carry your own drinking water bottle. Boil water and drink. Avoid water-based food products like chutnies, sauces, fruit juices.
* Avoid roadside coolers like sherbets, milks hakes, golas and ice
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