Gurgaon outbreak: 40 degrees C heat sees 40% increase in diarrhoea cases

Gurgaon doctors are reporting a huge increase in diarrhoea cases in the city due to temperatures rising over 40 deg C. Food and water get easily contaminated in such heat, the doctors say, adding that residents need to be very careful about what they eat and drink

Hospitals in the city are reporting a 40 per cent increase in cases of diarrhoea over the last 10 days.

Temperatures crossed 42 degrees Celsius in Gurgaon over the past one week. (Sanjeev Verma)

As temperatures crossed 42 degrees Celsius over the past one week, doctors say people are getting affected by bacteria and viruses which have a tendency to spread more in the heat. Doctors are of opinion that residents should avoid exposure to the sun to stay healthy.

“In the last 10 days we have seen an increase of 40 per cent in patients with diarrhoea. Though we are receiving a number of dehydration cases in hospital, cases of stomach infection are on the rise,” Kanta Goyal, chief medical officer, civil hospital, Gurgaon, said.

A major reasons behind the increase in diarrhoeal diseases is drinking contaminated water, ice and eating stale food, the doctors said.

Another reason for the sickness is water from bore-wells and tankers, which leads to water contamination and thus people get diarrhoea.

“People should increase intake of yoghurt as this the best food to settle the stomach. Only drinking water is not the solution, as it only helps in maintaining hydration in the body. One should also drink other liquids like lime juice with salt, glucose water with salt, electoral and coconut water,” said, Dr. Amitabha Ghosh, Internal Medicine, Columbia Asia Hospital, Gurgaon.

“During summer there is at least a 50-100 per cent increase in diarrhoeal cases in the hospital OPD and emergency. These include diarrhoea due to water borne infections (bacterial and amoebic) and food poisonings due to stale and spoilt food ,” said Dr. Rajnish Monga, Chief of Gastroenterology Paras Hospitals, Gurgaon.