The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)’s health bulletin data reveals that there has seen a massive spike in the dengue and malaria cases in 22 days of October.
Mumbai recorded 737 dengue cases followed by malaria (680), swine flu (51) and gastroenteritis (263) between October 1 and 22.
The civic health officer attributed the city’s erratic weather for this surge. On an average, 4-5 dengue patients are reporting daily; however, the admissions are limited.
As per BMC’s health department, between October 1 and 8, the city witnessed 211 malaria cases, followed by dengue (250) and gastroenteritis (90). On a daily average, nearly 26-32 cases of malaria and dengue were reported during the same period.
Owing to this, the BMC has issued an advisory to combat mosquito breeding. Underlining that even small accumulations of water, such as those found in discarded plastic containers or puddles, can serve as breeding grounds for mosquito larvae, the civic body appealed to remove items like tins, thermocol boxes, and coconut shells as water gets collected in them.
Every year, Mumbai sees a spurt in the figures related to vector-borne diseases. However, the uptick is attributed to a dense population, extensive healthcare infrastructure, and improved diagnosis and reporting systems.
Therefore, the civic body has been actively mapping cases and conducting visits to around 500 households in the vicinity of each infected case. The number of patients has started to decline now.
If reports are to be believed, these numbers are less compared to the previous month when the cases were very high amid the monsoon. In September, records indicated a high count of 1,313 malaria cases, 73 cases of leptospirosis, a staggering 1,360 dengue cases, and 573 cases of gastroenteritis, whereas, in September, 18 Swine flu cases have been reported in September.
Nevertheless, the overall cases of monsoon related diseases have dropped in Mumbai.
It is pertinent to note that there has been a drop in number of patients suffering hepatitis, leptospirosis, and chikungunya.
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