While the people of Mumbai are battling the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, cases of malaria and dengue have also been reported.
According to sources, in the first 10 days of October, 97 dengue patients were found across the city. Moreover, the instances of Chikungunya is also reportedly on a rise. So far, 30 patients have been diagnosed.
Due to the intermittent rains in Mumbai, the incidence of dengue is increasing day by day in the city. Rainwater is stored in places and dengue mosquitoes breed in large numbers in such places. In Mumbai, 257 dengue patients were found in September. Meanwhile, in the years 2019 and 2020, the number of dengue patients in September was 233 and 21 respectively.
Apart from malaria and dengue, leptospirosis, gastroenteritis, jaundice and swine flu have also been reported in Mumbai. While Mumbai’s civic body, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is taking measures against the outbreak of coronavirus, dengue, malaria and other rainy season diseases have been on the rise since the month of July.
On the other hand, earlier on June 10, the BMC had authorized an advisory on leptospirosis (a bacterial disease) amidst heavy rainfall in Mumbai.
Moreover, people are more likely to get infected by this bacterial disease if they travel and walk through waterlogged roads across the city without wearing gumboots. In addition, this disease spreads through the urine of infected animals. Individuals, exposed to such waters, are more likely to be infected with leptospirosis.
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