In the last three years, Mumbai recorded the highest number of swine flu cases-- 105--in the month of July. Whereas, there were no swine flu cases in July of 2020.
Similarly, dengue and leptospirosis have also surged during the same period. As per the data, 11 and 28 dengue cases were reported during July in 2020 and 2021 respectively, which has now increased to 61 this year in July.
Moreover, there were 14 and 37 lepto cases during the same period in 2020 and 2021 respectively, compared to 65 cases reported in July this year.
Officials said swine flu, often called a disease that follows a cyclic pattern, has typically hit the city in alternate years.
Sir JJ Hospital medicine department unit head Dr Madhukar Gaikwad said, “More than H1N1 cases, positive cases of seasonal flu are reported on an OPD basis. People should take preventive measures by wearing masks and avoiding crowded places.”
Wockhardt Hospitals internal medicine director Dr Behram Pardiwala said, “The swine flu cases are definitely going up. Both COVID and swine flu have similar symptoms. If a patient is not feeling better in 48 hours, then there might be a chance of swine flu. Swine flu symptoms are difficult for the common people to understand, hence a diagnosis is necessary."
PD Hinduja Hospital & Medical Research Centre emergency medicine specialist Dr Kishore Sathe said, “We are definitely seeing a sharp rise in H1N1 cases during the last 15 days. Only elder patients with multiple comorbid conditions are requiring hospital admissions, including ICU. Fortunately, we have got Oseltamivir-like drugs to take care of H1N1 , hence it’s easy to contain the spread.”
Senior health official from the civic health department also confirmed there has been a surge in H1N1 cases.
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