Jaundice cases on the rise in the city

After chicken pox, incidents of which have been rising since mid-February, another summer-related illness has manifested itself in the city. Hepatitis A infection, commonly known as viral hepatitis or jaundice, has cropped up in some areas in Mumbai.

Akhila Kale, 13, a resident of Thane complained of acute pain in the abdomen, which was diagnosed as viral hepatitis on Friday. Abhay Sharma, 44, a bank employee from Mulund, too was diagnosed with the disease recently. “It is probably due to drinking contaminated water,” said Sharma.

However, doctors say that sporadic cases of viral hepatitis are seen fairly frequently in the city, particularly during summer and rainy seasons. More than 85 % of Mumbai’s adult population has antibodies to resist Hepatitis A.

 Spread of jaundice depended mainly on the water supply in an area, said general physician Dr PV Vaidyanathan, advising caution when consuming food and water.

“People drink more cold drinks, mineral water and sugarcane juice during summer. These may or may not be from a questionable source,” Dr Shekhar Shirvaikar, Goregaon-based physician said.

s_deepa@dnaindia.net