Incessant rain triples cases of typhoid, throat infection in Delhi

The incessant rainfall over the weekend has led to a spurt in typhoid and upper respiratory infection cases among people, with experts identifying the elderly and the teenagers as the most vulnerable age groups.

Delhi recorded 153 mm of rain in 24 hours ending 8.30 am on Sunday, the highest in a single day in July since 1982. The national capital recorded 107 mm of precipitation till 8.30 am on Monday.

According to Dr Rajeev Gupta, an expert in internal medicine and a director at C K Birla Hospital, there has been a sharp increase in patients troubled by typhoid and jaundice alongside upper respiratory infections.

According to him, the number of patients has tripled with mostly children and the elderly being affected.

"Overflowing sewage is one of the biggest areas of concern. The government needs to focus on this issue as water is getting more contaminated during the rain," he stressed.

Concurring with Gupta over the age group of patients, Dr Anukalp Prakash, Lead Consultant, Gastroenterology, CK Birla Hospital, Gurugram stressed that drinking water is a major source of infections of the intestine and is the only cause of Hepatitis A and E.

"The age group which is more prone to such seasonal diseases are children below 15 to 16 years and others are senior citizens and elderly patients above 55 to 60 years as the immunity of these is little low as compared to other age groups. Also, people who are diabetic, have high BP, and cardiac diseases are prone to such diseases," he said.

Doctors predicted that the spurt could last the next two to three weeks.

According to Dr Saibal Chakravorty, senior Consultant, Internal Medicine, Metro Hospitals & Heart Institute, Noida said "we do expect to see an increase in the number of patients" in coming weeks.

"The patients at the moment are mostly those suffering from viral infections related to the rainfall, change in temperature, but apart from that we also have seen some cases of gastroenteritis, diarrhoea coming to the hospital.

"Many of the patients are quite sick and they are dehydrated. Apart from that, we have not yet seen cases which are vector-borne diseases like dengue fever, malaria, which are expected to increase," he said.

Experts advised people to frequently wash their hands, make sure their food is fresh and properly cooked and purify their water with either purifying tablets or boiling.

Waterborne diseases are not the only concern as "diseases with an incubation period of 15-20 days, will start appearing within a month," said Dr Anubhav Jain, a gastroenterologist from Paras Health.

"As the rain continues, water ponds and still water will cause more mosquitoes to breed which will lead to more vector-borne diseases like dengue and malaria," he said. Dr Sundari Srikant, senior consultant, Internal Medicine, Marengo Asia Hospitals, Faridabad urged people to avoid street food during the season for their being more prone to getting contaminated.

"If one has to go out and eat, go to hygienic places and restaurants which can minimise risk of contamination. Don't consume sugarcane and other juices from outside and avoid eating cut fruits during this season," she said.