Gurugram hospitals report an increase in water-borne, gut diseases

With the arrival of monsoon, the number of patients suffering from gastro-intestinal diseases such as diarrhoea, typhoid and hepatitis has increased in the city’s hospitals, doctors said. According to them, more people have turned up with such food-borne and water-borne diseases in the last 10 days.

“There has been around a 30% rise in the number of patients with gastro-intestinal infections in the hospital. We are seeing close to 30 patients daily now with stomach infections. This happens every year once the monsoon sets in, and continues till around mid-August when the rain subsides,” said Dr Amitabh Ghosh, a physician at Columbia Asia Hospital in Palam Vihar. He added that the numbers will likely go up in the next couple of weeks.

The doctors said such diseases increase during the monsoon because of warm and humid conditions in which harmful pathogen multiply fast in food. Avoiding eating food cooked in open and drinking only filtered water or boiled water can prevent catching infections. Experts also recommended having a healthy diet to boost immunity as frequent changes in temperature can make the body susceptible to infections.

Dr P Venkata Krishnan, internal medicine specialist at Paras Hospital, said, “The hospital has seen more than a 50% rise in the number of cases of hepatitis and typhoid. We are seeing close to 20 cases daily as compared to 10 or 12 till about 10 days ago. A lot of people are complaining of vomiting. We are prescribing them antacids and fluid intake.”

The doctors also said cases of mild to moderate fever are coming up, which are turning out to be a symptom of typhoid, malaria or dengue. Dr Amitabh Parti, internal medicine specialist at Fortis Hospital, said he has also received higher cases of respiratory tract infections in the last one week due to the fluctuation in the day and night temperature.