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Hyderabad witnesses surge in diarrhoea cases
Hospitals in the city are chock-a-block due to a significant increase in the number of diarrhoea cases reported from the city and the neighbouring districts. Around 10 lakh Acute Diarrhoea Disease (ADD) cases are recorded every year in Telangana. In 2012, 20.9 lakh cases were recorded in United Andhra Pradesh.
​Hyderabad: Hospitals in the city are chock-a-block due to a significant increase in the number of diarrhoea cases reported from the city and the neighbouring districts. Around 10 lakh Acute Diarrhoea Disease (ADD) cases are recorded every year in Telangana. In 2012, 20.9 lakh cases were recorded in United Andhra Pradesh.
“Though diarrhoea lasts for 2-4 days, if proper treatment is given patients can recover pretty fast. Negligence can prove costly and may become life threatening. Infants and children are the most vulnerable. We get 30-40 diarrhoea cases every day. Globally, diarrhoea is the second leading cause of death in children under the age of five,” said Dr Ratnalekha, RMO, Fever Hospital.
Highlights:
- Children between 1 and 5 are most vulnerable
- Drinking juices from roadside stalls can be risky
- Ice used in marriage parties may also trigger an outbreak of diarrhoea
- Lack of hygiene, contaminated water and food are primary causes
Diarrhoea is caused by bacterial infection through water and food. About 50 per cent of the diarrhoea patients at all hospitals comprise infants and children. “Out of the 15-20 cases that we treat every day, majority are children,” says Dr Anand Joshi from department of critical care and internal medicine at Global Hospitals.
“We send patients to Fever Hospital as there are designated beds there. The number of cases is increasing and the primary causes are lack of hygiene and contaminated water and food,” informed Dr J V Reddy, Superintendent of Gandhi Hospital.
The recent outbreak of diarrhoea at the railway quarters in Chilkalguda in which 100 people were affected, accentuates the view of the doctors. “Watery stools, upset stomach, vomiting, loss of appetite and dehydration are symptoms that one should watch out for,” says Dr Ravi, a private practitioner.
Many patients go to Gandhi Hospital for treatment and most of them are from the neighbouring slums. There are also some cases from the neighbouring districts. A few years ago, patients from Adilabad and Khammam used to rush to Hyderabad as oral rehydration was not available in remote agency areas but the situation is better this year with just one or two acute cases being reported, say doctors at Gandhi Hospital.
Diarrhoea cases tend to increase soon after the monsoon sets in, as drains get clogged and sewer lines break. Sewage water seeps into drinking water pipelines and cause an outbreak, said Ashwin, a social activist.
By: T P Venu
