Press Coverage

•Multispeciality, Paras Hospital, Gurgaon talks about some common disease prevalent during monsoon and measures to prevent them.

• With high humidity coupled with heat, bacterial, viral and fungal infections become common.

The monsoon season is a time for some much-needed relief from the scorching hot summer months, but it is also a time when diseases such as dengue, malaria, conjunctivitis, allergies, gastrointestinal infections and other bacterial and fungal infestations report a rise.
With patients in Gurgaon already reporting a spurt in infections, doctors at Paras Hospitals, Gurgaon are advising people to adopt preventive measures.

“It is just a few days into monsoon and we are already receiving an increasing number of patients (40-50 patients a day) reporting gastrointestinal, respiratory, acute febrile illness as well as eye infections. Poor sanitation, contamination of food and water become more prominent during the season. While common cold and viral fevers are quite common, people are also exposed to several intestinal infections leading to Gastroenteritis, Typhoid and Hepatitis due to intake of unhygienic and infected food and water. Dengue and Malaria are another scourge that rears its head every year during this season. So, we always suggest our patients to keep a watch on health, food & water hygiene & maintain high level of suspicion of the diseases discussed above and to report to doctor if the symptoms arise. In this season one should avoid eating on roadside joints” says Dr. Rajesh Kumar, Consultant, Internal Medicine.
The best way to prevent from being infected is to have a good knowledge about the cause and spread of the diseases that are common during the monsoon. As only then, you can chalk out the measures to prevent yourself from these diseases. Let’s take a look at the prevalent diseases:

Dengue, malaria, chikungunya
Dengue and chikungunya are acute viral infections transmitted by Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes. The common symptoms of the diseases are fever; sever body aches, joint pain and rash. Both are viral infection. Aedes mosquito breeds in clean water (artificial water-filled container habitats). Malaria is caused by female Anopheles mosquito that breeds in the fresh- or salt-water marshes, mangrove swamps, rice fields, grassy ditches, the edges of streams and rivers, and small, temporary rain pools. Malaria is characterized by symptoms such as high fever at regular intervals with shivering, muscle pain, headache and weakness. All the three diseases discussed above can be prevented by preventing mosquito breeding, keeping the surroundings clean and dry; wearing full length clothes; using coils and repellants even during the daytime to keep mosquitoes at bay.

Diarrhea and cholera
Spread by contaminated consumption of foods and water and both spread due to poor hygienic conditions. Increased frequency of watery stools leading to dehydration is the hall mark of diarrhea & Cholera. Adequate intake of fluids with ORS is the key to prevent dehydration & renal failure which may follow loose stools. After every loose stool one should take at least 300 ml of ORS solution. If one is not able to take fluids then one should report to hospital. Both the diseases can be prevented by staying alert on the hygiene quotient.

Typhoid and Jaundice and Gastroenteritis
Spread due to consumption of contaminated water or food, Typhoid incidence increases during monsoon. Poor sanitation and lack of hygiene favors the growth of typhoid bacteria other viruses which cause infection of liver (Hepatitis). High grade fever, sever headache, weakness, pain are common symptoms of typhoid, while symptoms like sever weakness, decreased appetite ,yellow urine and eyes, vomiting and liver dysfunction indicates Jaundice. Avoiding consumption of street-side food or water and drinking lots of healthy fluid can help avoid Typhoid & Jaundice both. If symptoms arise prompt medical consultation can prevent many complications.
After all Monsoon is not that gloomy, one can & should enjoy rains albeit with precautions as mentioned above. Have a pleasant & disease free Monsoon.